Espionage, destruction, obstruction: here is in three words what American justice could reproach Donald Trump.

By taking classified documents to his home in Florida, the former President of the United States may have shown guilty levity by violating three American laws which very strictly regulate the possession of confidential documents related to national security.   

According to the inventory of the documents seized by the FBI published Friday by the American justice, the investigators would have found 11 boxes of classified documents: a "top secret / SCI", four "top secret", three "secret" and finally three "confidential ”.

Among these designations, top secret/SCI (for Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information) represents the highest level of clearance and concerns only ultra-sensitive information.

SCI-marked documents can only be viewed in secure offices belonging to the federal government and require special access even for those with “top secret” clearance.

“It could be coded documents allowing a higher level of confidentiality and frankly, it is information that a very small number of people can access,” said Joshua Skule, a former FBI executive, interviewed by CNN. .

Little information has leaked out about the content of the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.

According to the Washington Post, which cites anonymous sources close to the investigation, certain documents are linked to nuclear weapons without it being known whether this information concerns the American arsenal or that of a foreign power.

A revelation denied by Donald Trump who denounced "a hoax" on Truth social, the social network he created.

In the list of documents seized is mentioned a set concerning the “President of France“.

No other details are given on the nature of this information, or whether it concerns the current French President Emmanuel Macron.

Asked by several media, the Elysée declined to comment.

Threats to national security?

According to the search warrant made public Friday, the American justice has serious reasons to suspect the former president of the United States of having violated three laws (sections 793, 2071 and 1519 of title 18 of the United States Code), related to national security.

First, Section 793 of the Espionage Act of 1917 which prohibits the “collection, transmission or loss of information” relating to national defence.

If found guilty, Donald Trump theoretically faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each violation.

The second text invoked to justify the search carried out on Monday by the FBI concerns the removal or destruction of official archives which can lead to three years in prison and a ban on holding public office.

Finally, section 1519 prohibits the obstruction of a federal investigation by destroying or concealing documents.

The maximum penalty is 20 years in prison.

These laws make no difference between classified and unclassified documents.

All documents that could potentially put national security at risk are concerned.

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According to the American media, however, it is unclear whether this investigation could lead to an indictment of Donald Trump.

According to experts, invoking the Espionage Act does not mean the former president is at risk of being charged with the crime.

"The Espionage Act includes a bunch of crimes that have nothing to do with espionage," espy attorney Bradley Moss said on Twitter.

“Unless you can prove that classified information was sold to a third party, it would be a huge stretch to prosecute a former president of the United States on these grounds,” lawyer Charles Elson also told CNBC.

For his part, Donald Trump assures that he himself had declassified all the documents found by the investigators in his property in Florida before his departure from the White House.

However, there is currently no indication that the former president followed official procedures to obtain the declassification of these sensitive documents.

Moreover, according to several analysts, documents relating to the American nuclear arsenal cannot be declassified.

What political future for Trump?

The search of Donald Trump's property in Mar-a-Lago, is part of an investigation into documents that the former president allegedly illegally took with him from the White House at the end of his mandate, in January 2021. 

US Presidents are required by law to submit all of their emails, letters and other working documents to the US National Archives.

However, Donald Trump had taken fifteen boxes of documents, which archival agents had to recover in January, already at Mar-a-Lago.

Extremely rare, the publication of the search warrant was made at the request of the Attorney General of the United States, Merrick Garland.

A way to respond to the accusations of "witch hunt" taken up in chorus by supporters of Donald Trump.

Already rising against the lawsuits brought against the participants in the assault on the Capitol in Washington on January 6, the American far right is unleashed again against a supposed Democratic plot intended to prevent their champion from representing himself in 2024.

According to some jurists, the violation of article 18 section 2071 of the United States Code on the removal or destruction of official records, is likely to lead to a penalty of ineligibility.

Other experts argue that this sanction applies to all positions in the administration except that of President of the United States.

>> Read: Can the FBI's shock search at Mar-a-Lago lead to the ineligibility of Donald Trump?

Beyond this legal dispute, an indictment of Donald Trump could greatly complicate his return to the front of the stage, said Marc Elias, a lawyer specializing in elections who has worked for several Democratic candidates.

"I agree that applying this law to a president is a legal challenge but imagine a candidate having to answer these charges in court during a campaign, that would in my view be a 'blockbuster of American political life' , he quipped.

Donald Trump is already facing a slew of lawsuits in several US states: allegations of election interference in Georgia, tax evasion in New York, not to mention possible lawsuits for inciting his supporters to carry out a violent assault on the building from the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Finally, a defamation lawsuit pitting Donald Trump against a woman accusing him of rape is scheduled for February 2023.

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