This morning added another devastating blow to Donald Trump. The sealed indictment was opened revealing 37 counts. The indictment mainly applies to the Foreign Espionage Act established in 1917 as a means of legally prosecuting German spying within the United States. Most often the law has been applied to the unauthorized possession and dissemination of sensitive or classified government material.
There have been several convictions of those entrusted to US Intelligence that include convictions of Jonathan Pollard in 1987, for spying for Israel and providing classified information to them. Israel was later to try and get the release of Pollard; CIA officer Aldrich Ames in 1994, a double agent for the Russian KGB; and, in 2002, former FBI agent Robert Hanssen was caught selling secrets to Russia over 20 years. They all received life sentences. Hanssen died earlier this week in prison. Then there was Daniel Ellsberg responsible for leaking classified information on the Vietnam War to be known as the “Pentagon Papers.” His trial was eventually dismissed because of the Watergate incident where Nixon had gotten a team to break into Ellsberg Psychiatrist’s Office and retrieve associated documents.
Under the Espionage Act Trump received 31 counts, regarding the classified documents followed by Obstruction, Conspiracy, Making False Statements, Scheme to Conceal, Concealing a Document in a Federal Investigation, Corruptly Concealing a Document or Record, and Withholding a Document or Record.
During his 2016 campaign and his administration Trump advocated for harsher and stronger penalties for holding classified information and made statements that if you did such a thing, you should not be President. He was promoting this because of Hillary Clinton who was found to have had a server with some classified information on it. Though he pushed for this he also called on the Russians to find Hillary’s 30 thousand emails! Trump knew the procedures and requirements for handling classified information. Storing them in a bathroom, shower stall, and on the ballroom stage where hundreds to thousands of people and potential adversaries could gain access was totally beyond reckless. It was a treasonous act having been President and Commander-in-Chief.
His supporters like Speaker McCarthy, DeSantis, and anyone else that are making him a victim once again are truly a failure of our leadership. There is no excuse for walking the tightrope on this one. Where our country’s security was placed at risk, our soldiers abroad and our partnership for shared intelligence with ally countries are now at risk.