NARA Letter Sent to Donald Trump's Team Could Make Stronger Case for Espionage Act Indictment – Legal Analysts

The National Archives and Records Administration of the United States has recently publicized a letter they sent to former President Donald Trump concerning the missing documents from the White House.

In a letter dated May 10 to Trump's counsel, Evan Corcoran reveals the insistence of Trump's team to assert "protective privilege" on the classified documents in their custody.

Legal analysts highlighted that because the letter finally shed light on the back-and-forth between the National Archives and Trump, this could further implicate Donald Trump in the Espionage Act that experts say could have him indicted.

NARA Letter Sent to Donald Trump's Team Explained

National Archivist Debra Steiland Wall wrote a now-publicized letter to Evan Corcoran, Trump's legal counsel, early in May to decline their request for additional time before the FBI and Intelligence community members review their documents recovered from Trump in the latest shipment in January 2022.

As early as Trump left office in 2021, the NARA flagged that there had been missing presidential records, in which they constantly communicated with the former president's team. The back-and-forth resulted in a shipment in January 2022 of 15 boxes.

Upon checking the contents, NARA found that it contained highly classified information and top-secret documents. The Archives then informed the Department of Justice about this discovery. Afterward, the DOJ asked President Biden to direct the FBI to be given access to the documents with utmost urgency.

The FBI will assess the potential damage resulting from the apparent manner in which these materials were stored and transported and will take any necessary remedial steps.

Because of certain statutes in place, the records are protected from access, but certain limitations have given the White House access to it. NARA informed Trump about this but did not ask for their permission.

Trump's team asked for an extension to review the materials given out until April 29, which the White House reluctantly accepted without any protest. However, until May 10, Trump has not yet provided any feedback.

Apparently, Trump will be checking the documents first to ascertain whether a specific one warrants the need for them to assert a claim of constitutionally based privilege.

Wall refuted Trump's team's insistence on possessing a privilege to withhold review, citing a Supreme Court decision that allows such.

Legal Analysts Weigh In on the Letter's Implication of Trump's Pending Indictment

With the letter being publicized, legal experts share with The Hill their thoughts on what the letter reveals in the ongoing investigation.

According to former US Attorney Barbara McQuade, the repeated requests made to Trump's team are telling.

"The volume of the documents and the length of the dispute, I think, makes the case stronger for the government that Donald Trump's retention of these documents was willful," McQuade said.

Reiss Center on Law and Security Co-Director Ryan Goodman pointed out that the letter "very significantly adds to the espionage charge," noting that the letter clearly informed on what kind of material they are trying to get a hold of on.

Meanwhile, experts are in unison in surprise, knowing that the DOJ and the NARA "moved so slowly" in recovering the missing highly-classified documents.

Other legal analysts are saying that the former President might be facing 10 years in jail should he be proven guilty of violating the Espionage Act.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ivan Korrs

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