As damning as the indictment against Donald Trump appears to be, it’s possible he’ll face even more serious charges in a federal court outside of Florida.
The former president was charged with 37 counts in Miami related to his mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, but legal experts Ryan Goodman and Andrew Weissmann wrote a new column for The Atlantic saying the indictment shows Trump may have committed additional crimes at his private residence in Bedminster, New Jersey,
“According to the Justice Department and a taped recording of the former president, Trump took classified records from Mar-a-Lago to Bedminster, where he showed off the contents of such records to others,” wrote Goodman and Weissman, who each are professors at NYU School of Law.
“The indictment alleges that Trump showed a map to a political ally and also showed a writer and a publisher a secret military plan to attack Iran. These two episodes were arguably the most egregious allegations of criminal wrongdoing mentioned in the indictment; they allege not just the improper retention of our nation’s most highly classified information, but the intentional communication of such information.”
It’s not clear why special counsel Jack Smith didn’t charge Trump with the dissemination of classified documents, the pair wrote, and it’s not clear whether those charges could remain on the table.
“Trump’s Bedminster conduct, as described in the indictment, appears to fit the description of two federal offenses designed to keep America’s national-security secrets safe,” wrote Goodman and Weissmann. “One makes it a crime to intentionally communicate national-defense information to people not authorized to receive it, and the other makes it a crime to intentionally disclose classified information to the same.”
“These are more serious crimes than willful retention of such documents, which is done to prevent possible leakage. Deliberate dissemination is the leakage itself.”
Smith could have charged Trump in Florida for crimes he allegedly committed in New Jersey, although the U.S. Supreme Court could have ultimately decided that wasn’t the proper venue. So it’s possible the special counsel is holding back on the dissemination charge in the event that the Mar-a-Lago case falls apart, the pair wrote.
“The legal uncertainties that surround bringing charges in Florida for dissemination of national-security secrets in Bedminster leaves open the possibility that charges might yet be brought in New Jersey — a backup plan of sorts for Smith,” wrote Goodman and Weissmann.
“If Aileen Cannon, the Florida judge assigned to the case, were to seek to pocket-veto the charges before her by, say, scheduling the trial for after the 2024 presidential election, the special counsel would be able to sidestep her tactic by proceeding with charges in New Jersey.”
The Miami indictment notably excludes evidence surrounding Trump’s potential crimes in Bedminster, which leads Goodman and Weissman to suspect those allegations could wind up in a separate case.
“Smith might still decide against bringing a separate indictment for dissemination, because such a move could be painted as overcharging,” they wrote. “The government usually tries to avoid being seen as piling on, at least in such a high-profile matter. But if Cannon acts consistently with her prior Trump-friendly rulings, which were twice found by unanimous panels of conservative appellate judges to be both factually and legally flawed, Smith might go looking for another way to ensure accountability — and another venue where he could do so.”
