MSNBC contributor and former Watergate lawyer Jill Wine-Banks said on this week’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show” that former President Donald Trump taking documents to his Mar-a-Lago property could cause him to be banned from holding office.
Capehart asked, “The National Archives confirmed that classified national security documents were among the items in the 15 boxes of White House records Trump brought with him to Mar-a-Lago.”
He added, “Exactly how much trouble could he be in here for removing classified files from the White House, Jill?”
Wine-Banks said, “There are laws that prohibit that. In the past, we have had examples of officials who have taken top-secret documents or classified documents and have been charged with crimes. Some of them have been given either probation or community service as their penalty.”
She continued, “This is illegal, to take away its government property. Right after Watergate, the Presidential Records Act was passed and was passed because of Nixon’s attempts to conceal documents and to destroy documents.”
Wine-Banks added, “We have the 18-minute gap in Watergate and the gap in the phone logs and in social media accounts right now, plus, these 15 cartons of documents that were taken, they are public property, they do not belong to Donald Trump, they belong to the American people, and should have been given to the archives when he left the White House. So that could be a big problem, and the penalty for that includes never being able to hold public office, forfeiture of office and barring from future office. That’s a pretty good penalty for what he did.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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