Donald Trump likes to compare the alleged misconduct at the heart of his federal indictment to the actions of his former vice president Mike Pence, or even to President Joe Biden, but the reality of the former president's case is closer to that of ex-intelligence contractor Reality Winner.
Trump's purported hoarding of documents including those with national security information goes far beyond the political comparisons he is making, but there are real-world examples to consider. Comparisons to cases actually charged under the Section 793(e) of the Espionage Act, which constitutes most of the charges in Trump's case, "may be more instructive when looking at the stakes Trump faces," according to ABC News.
"Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Birchum was sentenced earlier this month to three years in prison after pleading guilty to an 793(e) violation, though that was less than half of the 78 months prosecutors sought," according to the outlet.
ABC News further noted that Birchum "illegally kept top-secret National Security Agency documents on a thumb drive at his home in Tampa, Florida."
"Prosecutors said his motive for illegally retaining the documents remained unclear, but investigators found more than 300 classified documents at his home, in a storage container parked in his driveway and in his overseas quarters," the report says. "Birchum was never found to have given classified documents to anyone, according to court records."
But one of the most relevant cases is that of Winner, ABC News says.
"In 2018, another former NSA contractor, Reality Winner, was sentenced to more than five years in prison after pleading guilty to a Section 793(e) violation for sending a journalist a classified U.S. intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 election. While she was charged with disseminating classified information, Trump has not been."
Trump complained about Winner's sentence at the time it was given.
"Trump, almost certainly not contemplating he would one day be charged under the same statute, complained on Twitter at the time that Winner's sentence was for 'small potatoes' and claimed Clinton's conduct was worse."
