Trump could violate Espionage Act whether he showed docs or just talked about them: legal expert

Donald Trump could be found guilty under the Espionage Act even if he never showed anyone a single document, according to a former federal prosecutor.

Harry Litman said Thursday during an appearance on The Lincoln Project’s “The Breakdown” that transmitting information contained in a classified document, whether by discussing it or sharing the physical document, would qualify as a violation of a provision of the Espionage Act.

Litman was responding to a question from a viewer on the show over whether Trump would be disseminating classified information just by talking about its contents.

“Yes,” Litman said. “It’s the same Espionage Act statute, it’s a different section of it, and all you have to do is communicate it.”

But Litman suggested that it would behoove special counsel Jack Smith to obtain the document that reportedly contains plans for a potential military conflict with Iran.

“You would really need the document, I think just for a reasonable doubt proof, but in terms of the letter of the law, you tell him about it, and you can imagine, right oh, yeah, here's what you said about attacking Iran. He's given up the ghost, right.”

Litman’s comments suggest the whereabouts of the missing document could have significant implications in the case against the former president.

CNN earlier this month reported that Trump’s attorneys have not yet located the document.