Donald Trump is likely the target of a criminal investigation, and the raid on his Mar-a-Lago mansion shows it, a former acting US attorney general has said.
Neal Katyal, who was appointed by Barack Obama to represent the administration on the Supreme Court between 2010 and 2011, told MSNBC Monday night that if he were Trump’s attorney, he would tell him to “prepare for jail time.”
It comes after FBI agents previously searched Trump’s Florida mansion – including his private safe – with journalists told they were looking for proprietary documents Trump is said to have illegally stolen after his term as president ended.
Trump called the raid a “dark day” for America, while attorney Alan Dershowitz — a longtime Trump associate on the Mar-a-Lago club and who represented him in his first impeachment — called the raid “completely unjustified” and ” not correct’.
Neal Katyal, the former acting attorney general, said the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago shows Trump is likely the subject of a criminal investigation
The Justice Department is known to be conducting a criminal investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, but has repeatedly declined to say whether it is investigating Trump
The FBI and Justice Department have declined to say anything about the raid — including why it was conducted, what agents were looking for, or if they found anything.
It comes amid a Justice Department investigation into the January 6 attack on the Capitol, in which prosecutors are said to be interviewing witnesses specifically about Trump’s actions leading up to that day.
Katyal, who describes himself as an “extremist centrist” and is a law professor at Georgetown University, told MSNBC, “I think so [the raid] makes it likely that the former President is the target of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.’
He laid out the legal bases the FBI would have had to meet in order to obtain a search warrant, adding, “You have convinced a federal judge that there is a probable cause that a crime was committed.”
‘[The judge is convinced] that there are documents [his] House connected with this crime and that an ordinary request such as a subpoena or the like will not suffice.’
He concluded, “If I were Donald Trump’s attorney right now, and thank God I’m not, I would advise my client to tell my family that I am facing jail time and should plan accordingly.”
Separately, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told that if Trump is found guilty of misusing the documents, he could be barred from holding public office even as he prepares to run for office in 2024.
He said Trump is likely to be charged under US Code Title 18, Section 2071, which involves concealing or destroying US government documents.
The code states that anyone who “willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates or destroys or attempts to do so, or willfully takes and carries away records” is liable to a fine and a maximum sentence of three years in prison.’
The provision also states that anyone convicted of concealment or destruction of records “is forfeited and disbarred from holding office in the United States.”
FBI agents reportedly began an hour-long search in Mar-a-Lago Monday morning before Trump confirmed the raid later in the day (Intelligence agents at the mansion).
Trump supporters rallied outside Trump’s Florida home after the raid, as son Eric claimed it was part of a conspiracy to prevent his father from running for election in 2024
Mr. Rahmani added: “His attorneys told him about the law requiring him to keep White House documents, so he was informed and that will strengthen the case and help prove intent when prosecutors indict Trump.” .”
Trump’s lawyers have already turned over 15 boxes of documents that were supposed to be given to the National Archives after he left office, but ended up in Mar-a-Lago instead.
At the time of the January transfer, they brushed it off as a mistake, saying the White House was packed in a “hurry” because Trump was busy contesting the election result and didn’t want to vacate sooner.
The National Archives later confirmed some of the documents Trump returned were classified and said his legal team was still “searching” for additional records.
The ex-president hit back, telling reporters in February: “The National Archives have not ‘found’ anything.
“They received the President’s papers upon request in a usual and routine manner. If this was anyone other than “Trump,” there would be no story here,” he said.
“Instead, Democrats are on the hunt for their next scam.”
Trump and his legal team were not given early warning of Monday’s raid, and son Eric revealed he was the one who got the call about it and passed the information on to his father – who was in New York at the time.
Secret Service agents protecting the home reportedly received an hour’s notice before the warrant was served around 10 a.m. local time and then assisted the FBI in conducting the search.
Agents spent several hours searching the property and are said to have left with “several boxes” in the early afternoon.
News of the raid didn’t spread until several hours later, when Trump himself confirmed it, saying his “beautiful home” had been placed under “siege” by the FBI on what he called a “dark day” for America.
Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department said what the Mar-a-Lago raid (file image) was about, what they were looking for, or if anything was found
Eric said the raid was orchestrated by the Biden White House to discredit Trump ahead of the 2024 election, but a government spokesman denied having any prior knowledge of it.
Investigations into the records are just one of several investigations Trump has faced during his tenure as president, his refusal to award the 2020 race to Biden and the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol by supporters who believed that the election had been stolen.
The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into the events of Jan. 6, has accused hundreds of people of breaking into the Capitol that day and is set to investigate Trump’s involvement.
Lawyers questioning witnesses before a grand jury over the past month are said to have asked questions about Trump’s actions between December 2020 and January 2021.
However, Attorney General Merrick Garland has repeatedly refused to confirm or deny Trump’s investigation when questioned about the investigation.
Prosecutors are said to have focused on meetings between those dates, attempts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the findings, and the directions he gave attorneys and advisers to place “fake” voters in states, that Biden won.
Meanwhile, the House Select Committee in Congress is conducting a series of hearings through January 6, questioning senior members of the Trump administration about attempts to overturn the election result.
Mike Pompeo, Trump’s former secretary of state and ally during his tenure, will speak this week alongside Douglas Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania who has helped lead efforts to contest that state’s election result.
The state of Georgia is also conducting a separate grand jury investigation into Trump’s efforts to challenge the election result there, while two separate investigations in New York are investigating Trump’s finances.