OnPolitics: Charges for mishandling classified documents are rare

Monday, August 29

Former President Donald Trump walks into Trump Tower in New York late Tuesday.

A search warrant shows Trump is under scrutiny for possible violations of mishandling defense documents, obstruction of justice and the Espionage Act.

Happy Monday, OnPolitics readers!

In case you missed it, the Justice Department on Friday released a redacted version of the affidavit justifying the unprecedented search of former President Donald Trump's Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.

The affidavit revealed that highly classified national defense information — including records relating to clandestine human sources, some of the most guarded information in U.S. intelligence — was included in 15 boxes of documents recovered from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in January. It also gave some insight into the documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago earlier this month.

'Top Secret' classifications: The affidavit for the search warrant lists 184 unique documents bearing classification markings, including 67 documents marked as confidential, 92 documents marked as secret, and 25 documents marked as top secret.

Not secure: The storage room at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's residential suite Pine Hall and his office called the "45 Office" were "not currently authorized locations for the storage of classified information or" national defense information, the affidavit said. Documents were stored in multiple locations on the premises.

Justice Department lawyers warned Trump's legal team on June 8 that the storage room at Mar-a-Lago holding sensitive material should be better secured. Here are the main takeaways from the affidavit.

It's Amy and Ella with today's top stories out of Washington.

Charges for mishandling classified documents are rare

The criminal statutes cited by the Justice Department in the search of Donald Trump's Florida estate for mishandled documents are rarely prosecuted, but legal experts say investigators may still be building a criminal case, rather than simply retrieving classified records.

Beyond recovering the documents, legal experts said reports of authorities interviewing Trump aides about whether documents were declassified suggest they continue to gather evidence to build a potential criminal case against Trump himself.

The search warrant indicates that the Justice Department is investigating Donald Trump in connection with statutes related to the Espionage Act and obstruction.

"I'm convinced they are building a case to determine if they can bring charges against Trump," said Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor now at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. "You just aren't going to do that if your goal is to just primarily secure the documents and move on."

Paul Rosenzweig, a former federal prosecutor and senior counsel on the Whitewater investigation of President Bill Clinton, also said prosecutors wouldn't pursue witnesses about Trump's reputed standing order for declassification of documents if not to build a case.

"If they just wanted the paper back, they wouldn't be doing that," said Rosenzweig, who now manages Red Branch Consulting for cybersecurity. "Doing that means that they're trying to block off defenses and lock people in."

Real quick: Stories you'll want to read

•	Privileged docs identified: A DOJ filing indicates that authorities assigned a "privilege review team" to sort through materials seized from Mar-a-Lago.
•	'I dread 2024': New hostility and threats is pushing the limits of America's election officials.
•	Afghanistan withdrawal: After six deployments, U.S. veteran Matt Coburn was ready to leave Afghanistan's war behind. But a year after the U.S. withdrawal, Afghanistan has come to him – and to his newly adopted hometown in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
•	The anti-Trump: If you asked most political forecasters at the start of the year to list the most important Senate races of 2022, few would have put Utah among their top 10. Here's why that's changed.
•	Primary fallout: Trump candidates did well in August. But how will they fare in November?

In 2024, Democratic voters want a unifier, Republicans want a fighter

It's not just that Democratic and Republican voters disagree about who should be the next president. A new USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds they also have different visions of the crucial characteristics to do the job.

Democratic voters say they want most of all a unifier who will focus on bringing the country together and finding compromises.

Republican voters value first and foremost a fighter who will battle on behalf of "the freedom and dignity of all Americans."

Chris Hastings, 80, a conservative retiree from Hoover, Ala., who was among those surveyed, wants a contender who is "strong enough to fight the media," a quality he sees in former president Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. "I can't stand mealy-mouthed Republicans that just let themselves get pushed around," he said.

Talina Tantall, 54, a stay-at-home mom and a Democrat from Buckley, Michigan, has other traits in mind. "Someone who really cares about other people, isn't out for their own political gains or their own monetary gains," she said.

Partisans on both sides do want this: A nominee who can win. Read more of what voters want.

"Defund the FBI" slogans have created a new line of attack for President Biden and Democrats. Could Republican calls to defund the agency boost Democrats in midterm races? --Ella & Amy