Trump’s legal wrongdoings suggest they might complicate his life, particularly given the investigation surrounding the discovery of dozens of confidential documents leaked from the White House on Aug. 8 at his Mar-a-Lago, Fla., residence come at the end of his term in January 2021.
The New York Times recently warned that Trump’s various legal troubles, whether related to his fraudulent business practices, his efforts to overturn a Democratic election, or his refusal to release confidential government documents he doesn’t own, stem from the same sentiment.
For the ex-governor, the rules that others have to follow don’t apply to him, the New Yorker newspaper noted.
However, a federal appeals court decision less than a week ago will make it easier for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to use the remaining unclassified records seized at Mar-a-Lago.
The ruling shortens the procedure for the ex-president’s requested special expert to review the documents and presents a major obstacle in the investigation of possible mismanagement of the executive mansion’s files.
Trump’s arguments, as well as those of the trial judge, who granted his request that the seized evidence be reviewed by a third party, were firmly dismissed by the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
The decision also gave the DOJ freedom to use 22,000 pages of recovered government records, an important green light that will allow experts to review each piece of evidence in hopes of building a case, according to local media.
“The law is clear. We cannot create a rule that would allow a subject of a search warrant to block a government investigation after the execution of that warrant. Nor can we write a rule that only allows former presidents to do this,” the judges said.
It’s the latest and most recent sign that Trump’s early success in the case is waning, as the court’s three-judge panel dismissed a number of arguments put forward by his legal team and ruled that even unclassified records were used in the investigation can become.
The DOJ clarified that classified files found at Trump’s Florida home constitute the bulk of his potential case, which could involve charges under the Espionage Act, although thousands of other documents found there would also be important to the trial, DOJ Hill said Newspaper.
Incidentally, the office the 45th President set up on the second floor of his Mar-a-Lago estate is partly a replica of the Oval Office and perhaps a homage to his time in the real White House.
One of the biggest challenges for prosecutors in this case will always be proving that Trump had personal knowledge of the fact that the classified documents were at Mar-a-Lago, said Brian Greer, a former CIA attorney.
The attorney told The Hill that the former president would be personally involved in not returning those files, which would constitute an obstruction.
“The fact that these classified documents were interspersed with unclassified documents that he accessed or would have accessed is potentially very valuable evidence of Trump’s personal knowledge,” Greer added.
Without the power of the presidency, the former president faces a multitude of prosecutors and attorneys investigating him and his associates, the Times reported.
Never before, the newspaper pointed out, has a former president faced such an extensive series of investigations at the federal, state and congressional levels as Trump.