Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Kendra Kingsbury was sentenced to 46 months in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to two counts of willful retention of classified documents. …
“A relatively low level FBI employee’s case isn’t a meaningful parallel to charging the former president with the same crime,” McAuliffe said. “One could argue that Trump is actually more culpable because he was the key national security policy maker and user of the most sensitive information in the government’s possession.
“Unlike Kingsbury, the allegations are that he proactively obstructed the government’s attempts to retrieve the materials,” McAuliffe added. “The direct and repeated obstruction, if and when proven in court, is a significant aggravator in Trump’s case. It is likely the primary reason he was indicted.”
[Trump argues that the Presidential Records Act and his plenary ability to declassify material as president makes his case different, too. At the moment, that’s a political rather than legal argument. What remains to be seen is if his attorneys attempt those defenses, because the PRA is not exactly a compelling defense for possession of records that are explicitly exempt from the PRA, and classification isn’t the main issue either. Plus, with Trump offering an arguable admission to the obstruction charge on national TV this week, those points may be moot anyway. For now, though, this answers the claim about the DoJ rarely pursuing 18 USC 793 cases in criminal court. They just don’t pursue the cases involving a Clinton. — Ed]
Join the conversation as a VIP Member