EDUARDO MUNOZ / Portal
Illustration – Donald Trump addresses the media from Bedminster Golf Club in New Jersey, July 7, 2021 (Portal/Eduardo Munoz)
UNITED STATES – A “political persecution”. Donald Trump this Tuesday, August 9, denounced the FBI’s search of his property in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, looking for boxes of official documents belonging to the ex-president following his defeat in elections in 2020 had taken.
However, the Federal Records Act of 1978 requires all American presidents (and their closest aides) to submit all of their emails, letters, and working documents to the National Archives. Destroying them is also forbidden. An important precision, while a photo of a paper at the bottom of the White House toilet bowl resurfaced a few hours before the search. According to a book due out in October, Donald Trump would have put the paper down the toilet himself before flushing the toilet.
So what does Donald Trump risk if he actually broke the law? The Federal Records Act has no sanctioning power. However, the United States Code (which defines federal law) provides that anyone who “unlawfully and intentionally” conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys government documents is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to three years , or both, she must resign her post and hold no new office for the United States.”
Terry Renna/AP
The entrance to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, Florida estate was searched by the FBI on August 8, 2022.
Risk of ineligibility in the 2024 presidential election
“Theoretically, the former president risks fines and jail time. But this theory is limited by the political interests of the investigation. It’s hard to imagine a former president going to jail for that,” US expert Nicole Bacharan told Le Figaro. The case of Donald Trump is special, however, as he is implicated (indirectly for now) in the investigation into the attack on the Capitol.
If documents found in Mar-a-Lago refer to January 6, 2021, the day American democracy almost changed, and their role in that event, the situation could change. According to Nicole Bacharan, Donald Trump could be barred from running in an election. A blow to the ex-president who appears to be gearing up for the 2024 presidential race.
However, according to the New York Times, Donald Trump’s ban is not certain. In 2015, the question arose for Hillary Clinton, then a Democratic Party candidate and under fire from critics for using her private messaging system to send confidential emails when she was secretary of state.
Trump risks a lot
The FBI ultimately did not pursue the former presidential candidate. American lawyers had nevertheless investigated the matter. They felt that the Constitution had set firm rules for contenders for the White House (over 35 years old, born in the United States, etc.).
The impeachment process – well known to Trump, who has faced him twice – is also provided for in the text, as is a threshold clause. Experts’ conclusion: Because the constitution is more important in the hierarchy of norms, Congress does not have the authority to decide whether an individual is eligible or not.
Above all, as a note from his CNN page, Donald Trump risks being charged with far more serious crimes, particularly obstruction of justice, in connection with these documents if he knowingly withheld compromising documents related to the Capitol attack. This time the punishment could be much harsher: up to 20 years in prison.
See also on the HuffPost: Trump annoyed and unable to pronounce his defeat in a speech the day after the Capitol
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