On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump pleaded “not guilty” to the 37 federal counts lodged against him. However, legal experts have raised concerns that the indictment issued by special counsel Jack Smith may have overlooked potential charges that could be brought against Trump.
Ryan Goodman and Andrew Weissmann, writing for The Atlantic, speculate that the 49-page indictment does not include a specific charge of dissemination of classified information, which they consider a more severe offense. Their reasoning is based on the possibility that the dissemination occurred in New Jersey, while the charges were filed in Florida.
The Justice Department and a recorded conversation involving Trump support the claim that he took classified records from Mar-a-Lago to his Bedminster club in New Jersey, where he allegedly displayed the contents of those records to others. The indictment accuses Trump of showing a political ally a map and revealing a secret military plan to attack Iran to a writer and a publisher. These alleged acts of intentional communication of highly classified information are among the most serious accusations in the indictment.
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. 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.
The mentioned recording, obtained by CNN, captures Trump waving documents and stating, “Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” and “This was done by the military and given to me.” While illegal retention of classified information carries significant consequences, the deliberate dissemination of such information is considered even more serious. If Trump did deliberately leak classified information while in New Jersey, it would potentially constitute a separate charge.
The authors suggest a few reasons why dissemination charges might be absent from the current indictment. One factor is the choice of Florida as the venue for the trial, where Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon presides. Concerns have been raised about Cannon’s impartiality when it comes to the former president. There is also speculation that Cannon could “pocket-veto” the charges by scheduling the trial for a date after the 2024 election, allowing Smith to bring forward new charges in New Jersey before that time.
