Footnote in Mar-a-Lago affidavit ‘makes it impossible’ to not indict Trump: legal expert
Legendary Harvard Law Prof. Laurence Tribe on Friday pointed to a key footnote in the redacted Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit that was released by the Department of Justice on Friday.
Tribe was interviewed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
"What we saw in the unredacted portions is not just probable cause, but overwhelming evidence of three serious federal crimes, one of which was espionage," Tribe said. "And in footnote two of the the affidavit on page 22, the affidavit explains that all of this stuff about the president's declassifying the material is bogus. Not only was there no standing declassification order, but the espionage law doesn't make anything turn on whether something is called classified or not."
Tribe, who taught Attorney General Merrick Garland at Harvard Law, analyzed the change in the Department of Justice's position.
"What this does is point directly to Donald Trump in a way that will make it impossible for Merrick Garland not to seek an indictment," Tribe said. "Because unlike the complicated issues involved in the attempted coup and the insurrection, where Trump did his very best to keep his fingerprints off of the actual manipulation of the electoral slates and all the rest, here, not only his fingerprints, but his distinctive handwriting is on the top-secret documents."
"You can't say that he didn't know that they were there," Tribe said. "He's been bragging that they belong to him and the department has no choice but to pursue the clear culprit, the person who was guilty, if you are to believe anything in this affidavit, guilty of obstruction of justice as well as violating the espionage law."
Tribe explained why he thinks DOJ has such a strong case.
Tribe said, "what was released makes the most convincing case that I've ever seen in seven years of teaching evidence law and over 40 years of teaching constitutional law, the most convincing case of serious crime at this stage in an investigation. So I think Merrick Garland certainly won, the country won."
"The one big loser, and he doesn't like to think of himself that way, is the former president," he added.
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