Obstruction Probe of Classified Documents Has Trump Indictment Odds Slashed Further
The U.S. Justice Department dropped a bombshell late Tuesday night with the release of a 36-page filing in response to former President Donald Trump's request to have a third party appointed to sift through seized documents. The filing, which went public shortly before 11:30 pm ET, suggests there is evidence of obstuction of justice.
Odds of a Trump indictment have shifted to YES -110, though the NO was still a slight favorite at -130.
More than 100 classified documents were seized as part of a search of Trump's Palm Beach, Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, on August 8.
As part of the Justice Department's response, it claims the appointment of a special master "is unnecessary and would significantly harm important governmental interests, including national security interests."
The DOJ included a photographed of documents, some labeled with markings "SECRET//SCI" and "TOP SECRET//SCI, scattered about in a room at Mar-a-Lago.
The Justice Department claims that Trump was in possession of documents that do not belong to him and advised the court the former President is under investigation for violation of 18 U.S. Code § 2071 that prohibits the destruction of government records. It asserts that “certain pages of presidential records had been torn up".
Trump denies any wrongdoing and suggested Wednesday morning that the agents searching his residence had scattered the documents on the floor themselves.
FBI agents "threw documents haphazardly all over the floor (perhaps pretending it was me that did it!)", he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"[They] then started taking pictures of them for the public to see," Trump added.
The Justice Department also states that Trump's lawyers were not forthcoming after they were asked to provide all relevant documents months earlier.
Georgia State University legal scholar and search warrant expert Clark Cunningham tells The Conversation that "improper storing of classified information is a crime, but that is not what is being investigated here. A much more serious crime under the Espionage Act is at stake.
"Even someone like a former president who initially had lawful possession of national defense information commits a felony by retaining that information after the government demands its return. Trump can not hang on to national defense documents even if, while president, he “declassified” such documents, as he claims he did."
“The case is strong,” NYU law school professor Ryan Goodman tells Vice News. Goodman is also a former Department of Defense special counsel, and co-editor-in-chief of the Just Security national security forum. “The Justice Department has an extraordinary amount of evidence covering Trump and his associates’ course of conduct in handling the documents over a long span of time.”
Goodman added: “If this were anyone else, I’d expect an indictment to be following very soon.”
The U.S. Government has sought to keep much of its investigation under wraps out of fear of exposing confidential witnesses. This has resulted in BetOnline offering odds on who the "Mar-a-Lago Mole" might be. They have listed Tom Barrack and Mark Meadows among the favorites.
Bet on Who is the Mar-a-Lago Mole
*How to read the odds: +250 means that a $10 bet pays $25, +1000 indicates a $10 bet pays out $100.
Tom Barrack
+250
Mark Meadows
+325
Jared Kushner
+400
Jim Jordan
+1400
Rudy Giuliani
+1400
Matt Gaetz
+1400
Steve Bannon
+1400
John Eastman
+2800
Ivanka Trump
+3500
Michael Flynn Sr.
+3500
Kash Patel
+4000
Christopher Miller
+4000
Paul Manafort
+5000
Mike Lindell
+5000
Kelly-Anne Conway
+5000
Tiffany Trump
+6500
Stormy Daniels
+6900
Melania Trump
+7500
Kayleigh McEneny
+7500
Roger Stone
+10000
Elon Musk
+10000
Sidney Powell
+10000
Benjamin Netanyahu
+10000
Dana White
+12500
Marco Rubio
+12500
Donald Trump Jr.
+15000
Alex Jones
+15000
Mike Pence
+15000
Kid Rock
+15000
Corey Lewandoswki
+15000
Nigel Farage
+15000
Kanye West
+15000
Ghislaine Maxwell
+15000
Lara Trump
+15000
Eric Trump
+15000
Rand Paul
+20000
Scott Baio
+20000
Ted Nugent
+20000
Ron DeSantis
+20000
Kevin McCarthy
+20000
Jon Voight
+20000
Vladimir Putin
+20000
Jack Nicklaus
+25000
Joe Rogan
+25000
Billy Bush
+25000
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
