Trump’s Seized Passports Lead to Potential Legal Issues

In the previous legality concerning the public disclosure that ex-president Donald Trump illegally removed confidential documents after his leave from the White House, once his resort home was thoroughly investigated, he could no longer claim he relinquished all of his ties to private presidential information.

“The FBI, in a matter of hours, recovered twice as many documents with classification markings as the ‘diligent search’ that the former President’s counsel and other representatives had weeks to perform calls,” prosecutors explained. This statement can accurately summarize the efforts of federal agents on August 8 to fulfill the requested search warrants after the pushback from Trump on the potential misuse of public records.

This potential misuse and withholding of documents include shredding confidential and important Whitehouse data and removing 15 boxes worth of white house classified documents.

Possibly violating federal law for removing these documents and delivering them to his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart found the ex-president’s actions probable cause for FBI investigation. In the aftermath of this search and seizure, Trump claimed the action was unnecessary and prosecutorial conduct in how the search was unannounced and took place when he was away from his home.

“Unfortunately, when they Raided my home, Mar-a-Lago, 8 days ago, they just opened their arms and grabbed everything in sight, much as a common criminal would do. This shouldn’t happen in America!” Trump claimed.

Trump’s political and legal strategies often cross over. In this case, he claimed that the withholding of presidential documents was cleared due to his declaration of them being “nonclassified,” calling into question the legality of his actions and his role to determine that after his displacement from The White House.

Throughout his short term as president discoveries of his actions that could be caused by “skirting the law” or “politically incorrect” were not uncommon. And now, despite no longer being in office Trump uses his previous position as office holder as an explanation, not explaining why he would keep hold of potentially damaging documents. As a result of the documents retrieval including his passports that were found “commingling” with the found documents, Trump pushed for a Special Master to sort through the items confiscated from his home to prove it was within his rights to own it.

Trump’s claim would normally be within rights however, the search was not illegal because by definition since he is no longer in office the documents would be under the care of the collective state – not the individual. The retrieval of his passports is only protocol, as it does identify Trump, the owner of the home where the “contraband” was found in. And confirming that those passports were put in the same room as the found documents by himself only confirms that he is indeed responsible for withholding them purposefully from government officials. Eliminating his ability to argue that it was mistakenly relocated into his home by movers without his know-how.

Written by Brielle R. Buford

Sources:

CNN: Trump’s legal gambits offer fresh revelations and deepen his political risk

Newsweek: Trump’s Seized Passports Kept in Same Desk Drawer as Classified Documents

NBC News: Trump’s seized passports could be a problem for him, legal experts say

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Gage Skidmore‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License

Inset Image Courtesy of Timothy Kim‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons