Zinger Key Points
- Ex-President Trump's indictment is likely following the release of FBI's affidavit, legal experts say
- Alan Dershowitz, however, cautioned against the Justice Department pursuing the case.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation’s affidavit unsealed Friday strengthens the case against former President Donald Trump, according to legal experts.
Trump Ally Says Evidence Supports Indictment: Alan Dershowitz, a former Harvard Law School professor and a former member of Trump’s legal team, is of the view that currently there is enough evidence for indicting the ex-president, the New York Post reported.
"Any grand jury in DC would indict Trump on the evidence that he had classified material in violation of various statutes," Dershowitz reportedly told the Post.
The view comes after the unsealing of the highly-redacted FBI affidavit used for issuing the warrant. It revealed that the federal agency was looking for classified government documents when they raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
Out of the 184 classified documents obtained during the search, 25 were marked as top secret, 92 as secret, and 67 as confidential.
Dershowitz, however, cautioned against the Justice Department pursuing the case. The view was premised on the fact that the probe did not meet what he termed as the Nixon and Clinton tests, the report said.
The former test requires establishing “broad bipartisan” support and the latter needs demonstration that Trump’s conduct was materially worse than Hillary Clinton’s own mishandling of classified information, Dershowitz added.
Dershowitz was part of Trump’s defense team during his first impeachment trial.
Affidavit’s Impact: Other attorneys following the case have also responded after reviewing the affidavit. There was probable cause to believe that Trump “retained classified documents in violation of the applicable statute in a place that was not secure according to the regulations,” David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor from the Southern District of Florida, said, according to Business Insider.
Meanwhile, Norm Eisen, a legal analyst, said on Twitter that the affidavit, though redacted, is "absolutely damning," the Insider said. He suggested that people go to jail for such conduct.
Photo: Courtesy of The Jewish Federation and Gage Skidmore on flickr
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