Consequences for federal case 'much more severe' than the New York indictment: legal expert

Former President Donald Trump was indicted on Thursday in the Mar-a-Lago classified document probe, being slapped by special counsel Jack Smith's grand jury with seven federal charges, including obstruction, willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy, and false statements.

On CNN, former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Elie Honig broke down how this is a much more grave legal situation for Trump than his other indictment, brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for falsifying business records.

"From a legal perspective, what do you think the seven counts are?" asked anchor Anderson Cooper. "What do we know based on what's been presented thus far?"

"The best indicator we have so far is the search warrant affidavit for Mar-a-Lago," said Honig. "When the Justice Department went to a judge, they said, we have probable cause to believe that three different crimes are committed, willful retention, or mishandling of defense information. That's part of the Espionage Act. Destruction or concealment of government documents, and then third, obstruction of justice. Now, federal prosecutors can break this out any way they want. It's possible we see multiple counts of some of those. It's possible we see any combination of those that adds up to seven."

Additionally, Honig added, "it could be possible we see other counts. Because what you put in your search warrant may not be what you indict on."

"Bigger picture, even without seeing the specifics of this indictment, I think Donald Trump is in for the fight of his life," continued Honig. "This is a man who has been sued, deposed, taken the Fifth, impeached twice, tried in the Senate, investigated by Congress, even indicted by the state authorities here in Manhattan. But being indicted by the Justice Department is different. This is a whole different ball game. DOJ has way more resources. The conduct here is going to be, I think it's safe to say, more significant than what he was indicted for in Manhattan. And the consequences if he is convicted are going to be much more severe than what he is looking at in Manhattan."

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