What Crimes Could Trump Be Charged With In Documents Investigation? Here’s What We Know

Topline

Former President Donald Trump may soon be indicted as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into him retaining classified White House documents and storing them at Mar-A-Lago, multiple reports indicate, facing possible charges for violating federal statutes around mishandling government materials and obstruction—which could carry prison sentences.

Former President Donald Trump is seen leaving Trump Tower after being indicted by a New York Grand … [+] Jury on April 4 in New York City.

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Key Facts

The DOJ, led by special counsel Jack Smith, is investigating Trump retaining thousands of White House documents at Mar-A-Lago despite federal laws that say such documents are the property of the National Archives, and whether Trump obstructed that investigation by not complying with a subpoena for classified materials, saying in court documents they’re looking into whether he violated federal statutes 18 U.S.C. §§ 793, 2071 and 1519.

Part of the Espionage Act, section e of 18 U.S.C. §§ 793, prohibits “willfully retain[ing]

” national defense information and “fail[ing] to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it,” and the statute carries a punishment of a fine and/or up to 10 years in prison.

18 U.S.C. §§ 2071 involves anyone who “conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys” any government documents or “takes and carries away” any such documents with the intent to conceal or destroy them, which is a felony punishable by a fine and/or up to three years in prison.

18 U.S.C. §§ 1519 concerns obstruction, stating anyone commits a crime who “knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object” with the intent to “impede, obstruct, or influence” a federal investigation, which is punishable by a fine and/or up to 20 years in prison.

In addition to the statutes specifically mentioned by the DOJ, legal experts at Just Security suggested other laws could also be applied to Trump, including 18 U.S. Code § 641, which criminalizes “embezzl[ing]

, steal[ing], purloin[ing]” government materials or converting them to the person’s own use; 18 U.S. Code § 1924, which concerns the unauthorized removal or retention of classified materials; and statutes on criminal contempt for disobeying a court order (including a subpoena) and giving false statements to federal authorities.

Those crimes are punishable by fines and/or prison sentences of six months (for contempt) or up to five years (false statements and classified materials), and § 641 can be a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison if the government materials have a value of more than $1,000, or a misdemeanor with a one-year prison sentence if the value is less than that.

What To Watch For

It’s still unclear when and where Trump could be indicted, or if he will be at all, though reports confirming the ex-president has been informed he’s a target of the DOJ’s investigation raise the likelihood of him being charged. Trump being a target of the investigation means there’s “substantial evidence linking [Trump] to the commission of a crime” for prosecutors or the grand jury, according to the DOJ, and Trump will become the first former president to be federally charged with a crime if he’s indicted. Grand juries have been convened in Washington, D.C., and, more recently, Florida, to hear evidence in the investigation, and it still remains to be seen in which court the charges against Trump could be brought. The Florida grand jury was also still hearing evidence as of Wednesday, making it unclear when it could vote on any indictments. The Washington Post reports prosecutors want to bring a “significant portion” of the charges in Florida, since that’s where Trump’s alleged misconduct largely took place, though other charges could also be brought in D.C. Bringing charges in Florida might lead to a speedier trial, the Post notes, given it’s more straightforward why charges should be brought there, though a Florida jury may also be more favorable to Trump than in more liberal-leaning D.C.

Big Number

More than 11,000. That’s the number of White House documents federal investigators have seized from Mar-A-Lago—between the materials that Trump turned over himself and that were found there during a search—including 325 classified materials. Trump has defended himself by claiming he declassified materials—which experts have largely denounced as false, and the ex-president’s attorneys have not claimed in court—but most of the statutes he could be charged apply to both non-classified and classified materials, so Trump could still be charged even if that were the case.

Chief Critic

Trump has broadly denied any wrongdoing in the classified documents case, maintaining he was allowed to bring the documents back to Mar-A-Lago with him under the Presidential Records Act and declassified materials. (Experts have said Trump’s interpretation of that law is inaccurate and White House materials are legally the property of the National Archives.) “No one has told me I’m being indicted, and I shouldn’t be because I’ve done NOTHING wrong, but I have assumed for years that I am a Target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI,” Trump said on Truth Social Wednesday, calling investigations against him “A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE & ELECTION INTERFERENCE AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE.”

Key Background

The DOJ has been investigating Trump’s retention of White House documents since February 2022, after Trump delivered 15 boxes of White House documents to the National Archives in January 2022 and the agency discovered he had held on to classified materials. Federal investigators subpoenaed Trump for all remaining classified documents in June 2022, but then searched Mar-A-Lago in August after having reason to believe Trump did not turn all the documents over. Investigators found an additional 103 classified documents during the search, raising suspicions that Trump had obstructed the investigation by not fully complying with the subpoena. Smith was appointed to oversee the investigation—along with a separate probe into the aftermath of the 2020 election—in November to avoid any biases, given Trump is challenging President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential race. The news about Trump being informed he’s a target followed reporting in recent weeks that the documents investigation was nearing an end, with the Wall Street Journal reporting May 23 that Smith was “all but finished obtaining testimony and other evidence” in the probe. Trump’s attorneys also met with DOJ officials on Monday to discuss the probe, which is typically seen as a final step before indictment. The possibility of Trump being charged was also raised by a string of recent news reports suggesting potentially damaging evidence that Smith has obtained, including an audio recording from 2021 in which Trump acknowledged he kept a classified document, but did not have the power to declassify it now that he had left office, and detailed descriptions from Trump attorney Evan Corcoran about his work for Trump on the case.

What Crimes Could Trump Be Charged With In Documents Investigation? Here’s What We Know—And How Much Time He Could Face