Trump ‘Will Be Charged’ With Espionage, Former Special Counsel Predicts

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.”

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.”

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.”