Trump in danger of heightened espionage charges after bombshell report: legal expert

According to one legal analyst, if a bombshell report from the Washington Post is accurate, Donald Trump could be facing even more serious charges under the Espionage Act from the Department of Justice.

In a column for MSNBC, attorney Norm Eisen wrote there is already plenty of evidence to indict the former president for obstruction of justice for not returning the stolen government documents hidden away at Mar-a-Lago, but reports that Trump left documents sitting around in plain view and may have shared them with others makes his legal peril infinitely worse.

According to Eisen, the new report means Trump's legal problems went from "bad to worse" this past week.

"If Trump had really showed off classified documents to people at Mar-a-Lago, then that would add to what we already know of his legal liability," the attorney explained. "Just by retaining the documents, Trump would face liability for apparent willful possession and retention of the classified documents pertaining to national defense. Under section 793(e) of the Espionage Act, it is a criminal offense for a person without authorization to willfully retain classified documents and fail to deliver them to an officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive them."

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However, he explained, the new reports indicate the former president could face even more serious charges.

"... purposefully showing classified documents to others without authorization, in the manner reported by the Post and the Times, would go beyond retaining classified documents as prohibited by the statute. It likely constitutes an even more egregious violation of the Espionage Act under the clause prohibiting the willful communication, delivery or transmission of classified documents," he elaborated.

According to Eisen, the case by the DOJ "against Trump is becoming clearer and potentially more damning — and the possible consequences for Trump more dire."

He went on to note that there may be more that special counsel Jack Smith could have on the ex-president and added that Trump's "habit of lying his way out of accountability for his transgressions will not fly in the courts, and in facing the rule of law."

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