Trump is so screwed. If he had sent the documents back, he was free and clear. But he held onto some of them, apparently including nuclear secrets, having been told to return them. Then he claimed they had all been returned. And so he is guilty of concealment of government secrets.
He'll blame his attorney, of course. But if the attorney is not an idiot, they'll have evidence that Trump asserted he had returned everything.
"The warrant obtained by the FBI to search former President Donald Trump’s office and residence at Mar-A-Lago has been made public, and it is a shocker. And I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but this could be the big one—the case where Trump can’t escape legal accountability.
Appendix B to the search warrant states that the warrant is to search for evidence of violations of the Espionage Act, 18 U.S.C. Section 793, and two other statutes.
What did former President Trump do that could be considered a violation of the Espionage Act?
It appears that Trump allegedly held on to top secret records that he originally lawfully possessed after their return had been demanded by the National Archives.
Section 793(d) of the Espionage Act states “Whoever, lawfully having possession of…any document…relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation…willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it” is guilty.
Does it matter that former President Trump states that he de-classified the materials found at Mar-A-Lago?
No.
Section 793(d) is not restricted to classified materials. Rather, it covers any document “relating to the national defense” that contains information that the possessor has reason to believe would be detrimental to the United States if made public. Here, the search warrant return states that documents seized from Mar-A-Lago include “classified/TS/SCI documents” (meaning Top Secret or Secure Compartmentalized Information), “Top Secret Documents,” “Secret Documents,” and “Confidential Documents.”
Even if former President Trump de-classified these documents before his term ended, the information contained in those documents would still fall squarely within Section 793(d)."
http://news.yahoo.com/trump-indictment-over-mishandling-classified-222107255.html
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