By Jyoti Jha
Ex-President Donald Trump has been accused of trying to erase surveillance videos retrieved from his Mar-a-Lago estate to stop the Justice Department’s investigation into his use of secret documents.
This fresh set of charges was revealed on Thursday. They are putting up more legal trouble along Trump’s way. Prosecutors say he played a bigger role than previously known in hiding the top-secret documents he took from the White House.
This comes as Trump faces the possibility of more charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The new allegations make special counsel Jack Smith’s case against Trump even stronger, and they weaken the defenses the former president might have used, according to experts.
Former federal prosecutor Randall Eliason is now a law professor at George Washington University. He said that before these new charges, there might have been a chance to defend by saying it was a mistake or blame the staff for the confusion about the documents.
But now, since they are trying to get rid of video evidence, it looks really bad for him. He doesn’t seem to have a strong defense anymore. The only thing he can do is claim he’s being unfairly treated and hope to find a juror who supports him.
Trump used his usual strategy on Friday. He posted on his Truth Social platform, saying that the prosecutors are like those in Third World countries who intimidate people without following the law. He also told a radio host that he did nothing wrong and accused the prosecutors of pressuring his staff to lie about him.
Trump was informed this month that he’s being targeted in that investigation, and his lawyers met with special counsel Jack Smith’s office on Thursday.
After that meeting, Smith revealed there were new charges for the classified documents case. This was in addition to the 38-count of charges from last month that were issued against Trump and his driver, W. Nauta.
The updated list of charges includes a detailed timeline of phone calls and interactions between Trump, his driver, and Mar-a-Lago’s property manager, Mr. Oliveira. This happened in the days after the Justice Department delivered a subpoena for security camera footage at Mar-a-Lago.
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