Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of state secrets is common behavior in Washington and typically goes unpunished, former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has argued in response to the former US president’s indictment.
“All kidding aside, it’s not wrong to say that the indictment of Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents is a case of selective prosecution,” Snowden said on Friday in a Twitter post. “Spilled secrets are very much the currency of Washington, and Trump was not alone in splashing them around. He was just the least graceful.”
Trump was charged with 37 felonies in a federal grand jury indictment that prosecutors unsealed on Friday. He’s accused of knowingly retaining classified documents after leaving office, conspiring to keep federal authorities from retrieving them and obstructing an investigation into their whereabouts.
Snowden marked the 10-year anniversary this week of his exposure of mass spying on US citizens by their government. He said Trump failed to fix the system that has now come back to haunt him.
“It’s hard to feel sorry for a man who had four years in the White House to reform that broken system and instead left it in place to the detriment of the American public. He is caught within the same gears his own hands once turned,” Snowden tweeted.
Some observers pointed out that Trump is being prosecuted under the same law – the Espionage Act – that Washington has wielded against Snowden and WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange. As president, Trump declined to issue pardons for both men, who were charged with crimes after exposing US government wrongdoing.
“Then said Jesus unto him, put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword,” Snowden said, using a Bible verse to point out the irony of Trump’s latest legal predicament.
"Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." https://t.co/QE4Jnqug8u
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) June 9, 2023
Snowden has railed against the US government’s abuse of secrecy since 2013, when he exposed the widespread NSA spying on American citizens. He was forced to seek refuge in Russia after Washington annulled his passport mid flight, eventually becoming a Russian citizen.
Asked on Friday what he’d do if he were the US president, he said, “I’d surely reduce the number of things we classify by more than 99% – and you would not find the remainder in my bathroom or behind my Corvette.”
Snowden’s quip alluded to allegations that Trump had classified records stored in a bathroom at his Florida resort, as well as revelations earlier this year that President Joe Biden improperly kept secret documents and stored them in multiple locations, including the garage at his home in Delaware.
Trump and his allies have argued that Biden weaponized the justice system to take out his top opponent in the 2024 presidential election, all while being excused for his own mishandling of state secrets. Trump also argued that he had the authority to declassify the records in his possession, unlike Biden, whose documents were acquired when he served as vice president. The former president blasted Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing the indictment against him, as a “deranged lunatic” with a history of political bias.
Edward Snowden Suggests Way to Resolve Biden, Trump Document Scandals
National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed on Saturday what he thinks it'll take to fix the "secret-document scandals" now looming over two presidents: a hard reset.
Snowden, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee and NSA contractor, shared his idea via Twitter.
"One way of resolving all these secret-document scandals is to acknowledge that after 75 years of experimentation, the chief accomplishment of the 'classification system' has been to make our government less trustworthy and our country less free," he wrote. "Abolish and reform it. All of it."
Over the past several days, the media has reported on the discovery of classified documents in a locked garage at President Joe Biden's Delaware home, as well as an earlier batch in Washington, D.C., at his former office. Although the materials from the office had been found days ahead of the midterm election, the public didn't learn about them until earlier this month.
One way of resolving all these secret-document scandals is to acknowledge that after 75 years of experimentation, the chief accomplishment of the "classification system" has been to make our government less trustworthy and our country less free.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 14, 2023
Abolish and reform it. All of it.
Snowden previously weighed in on Biden's documents debacle, claiming that the "real scandal" isn't that they'd been in the president's possession. Rather, he alleged that the Department of Justice (DOJ) prevented the bombshell from dropping ahead of November's midterm elections, thereby "conferring a partisan advantage."
Former President Donald Trump has dealt with his own classified documents headache. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided his Mar-a-Lago estate last summer, where agents searched for a cache of materials, including some that reportedly pertained to nuclear weapons. Trump, however, has maintained his innocence in the matter.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday fielded reporters' questions about the documents. She insisted that Biden takes such materials "seriously," adding that the administration is cooperating with the DOJ.
"We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the president and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake," Jean-Pierre said.
Afterward, Snowden shared a video of the moment, along with the sarcastic caption: "Man, I should have thought of that one."
Man, I should have thought of that one. https://t.co/bhRlKAVmgs
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 13, 2023
Roughly a decade ago, Snowden provided journalists with classified information relating to the widespread surveillance of citizens conducted by intelligence agencies, according to NPR. Russia granted Snowden permanent residency in 2020, and he remains overseas to this day to avoid U.S. espionage charges.
ANGELA WEISS AND MANDEL NGAN / AFP; BARTON GELLMAN/GETTY IMAGES
Snowden has also compared Biden's alleged mishandling of classified documents with other whistleblowers. In a tweet on Wednesday, he name-checked Reality Winner, a former NSA contract worker and Air Force member who was sentenced to more than five years behind bars after leaking "just one document" detailing Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election.
"Meanwhile Biden, Trump, Clinton, Petraeus... these guys have dozens, hundreds," Snowden tweeted. "No jail."
Worth noting that the President seems to have absconded with more classified documents than many whistleblowers. For comparison, Reality Winner was sentenced to 5 YEARS for just one document.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 11, 2023
Meanwhile Biden, Trump, Clinton, Petraeus... these guys have dozens, hundreds. No jail.
Trump’s Lawyer Predicts His Client Will be Charged Under the Espionage Act
Former President Donald Trump "will be charged" with federal crimes under the Espionage Act, according to Ryan Goodman, former special counsel to the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense
Goodman, a New York University law professor and co-editor-in-chief of the website Just Security, suggested in a series of tweets on Wednesday that a "bombshell" CNN report had changed the dynamics of Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into issues surrounding Trump's post-presidency handling of classified documents.
A report published earlier in the day by the cable news network claimed that federal prosecutors had obtained an audio recording of Trump discussing, with several people who lacked the appropriate security clearances, his possession of a classified document detailing a potential attack on Iran, during a July 2021 meeting at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Goodman noted that "war plans are among the most highly classified documents," while arguing that the purported recording would put "pressure" on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to indict the former president and on a jury to eventually convict him of espionage.
"Make no mistake. This is squarely an Espionage Act case," Goodman tweeted. "It is not simply an 'obstruction' case. There is now every reason to expect former President Trump will be charged under 18 USC 793(e) of the Espionage Act. The law fits his reported conduct like a hand in glove."
7. Make no mistake. This is squarely an Espionage Act case. It is not simply an "obstruction" case.
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 31, 2023
There is now every reason to expect former President Trump will be charged under 18 USC 793(e) of the Espionage Act.
The law fits his reported conduct like a hand in glove. pic.twitter.com/JLOixL4lba
The statute cited by Goodman says that a person in possession of information "relating to the national defense" that could "be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation" is in violation of the law if they "willfully" retain the information and fail "to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it."
Goodman said that while Trump merely possessing the document would be enough to convict him, the purported recording cited by CNN also indicates the former president's potential "motive" for not relinquishing the document to the appropriate authorities.
The recording reportedly captures Trump telling his associates that the document would undermine a contemporaneous New Yorker report about concerns expressed by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Mark Milley that Trump would launch an unjustified strike on Iran during the final days of his presidency.
"Prosecutors do not need to show motive for conviction, but it helps with a jury," tweeted Goodman. "CNN report suggests motives: To hold onto docs as trophies, to use to settle scores or try to retain control over the narrative."
8. Prosecutors do not need to show motive for conviction, but it helps with a jury.
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 31, 2023
CNN report suggests motives: To hold onto docs as trophies, to use to settle scores or try to retain control over the narrative - here to try (in vain) to contradict @sbg1's reporting on Milley.
The purported recording also "appears to knock a hole" in Trump's claim that he automatically "declassified" the documents he retained after leaving the White House, according to Goodman, as the former president is reportedly heard saying that the document was classified and that he had a limited ability to declassify records after leaving office.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing. A spokesperson for the former president said in a statement emailed to Newsweek that "leaks from radical partisans behind this political persecution are designed to inflame tensions and continue the media's harassment of President Trump and his supporters."
"It's just more proof that when it comes to President Trump, there are absolutely no depths to which they will not sink as they pursue their witch hunts," the spokesperson continued. "The DOJ's continued interference in the presidential election is shameful and this meritless investigation should cease wasting the American taxpayer's money on Democrat political objectives."
Goodman is not the only legal expert to suggest that the purported recording could spell serious trouble for the former president.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Weissmann said during an MSNBC appearance on Wednesday that it was "game over" for Trump if the CNN report is true, adding that there is "no way that he will not be charged."
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