Trump pleads not guilty in classified documents case, May get 22 years if found guilty
“Not guilty,” former US President Donald Trump said, answering to a question from the judge
Former US President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on charges related to mishandling of classified documents, CNN reported on Tuesday.
“Not guilty,” Trump said, answering to a question from the judge.
A guilty plea would have paved a way to a plea deal with the prosecution, allowing a simplified trial and a milder possible sentence. Since Trump pleaded not guilty, the case will be heard in accordance with the regular procedure.
According to the indictment, uploaded to the electronic database of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on June 9, Trump and his aide Walt Nauta were charged with 38 counts related to mishandling of classified documents. The indictment says that during last year’s search at Trump’s estate in Florida, FBI agents seized 102 documents with classification markings: 27 of them were stored in his office and 75 were in the storage. Of those documents, 17 were marked as ‘top secret.’.
Donald Trump may face up to 22 years in prison if found guilty in the case of mishandling classified documents, the Vice News media outlet reported on Tuesday.
“Trump may face between 17-and-a-half and 22 years for just the criminal counts related to willfully retaining national security documents, based on a careful review of the charges and federal sentencing guidelines performed by former federal prosecutor David Aaron. Trump could also be sentenced to another seven-and-one-quarter to nine years for the other counts in the indictment, including obstruction of justice,” Vice News said.
Earlier, Trump and his aide Walt Nauta were charged with 38 criminal counts. FBI agents seized a total of 102 documents during a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida last August: 27 of them were kept in the ex-president’s office and 75 were in storage. As many as 17 documents were marked as “top secret.”
Trump says that he committed no offense because as head of state, he had the power to declassify all documents in his possession. However, the power did not apply to documents pertaining to the nuclear field, which, according to the indictment, were found at Mar-a-Lago.
