Hyperbole and Donald Trump go together as perfectly as McDonald’s burgers and Donald Trump. But in the case of a recent Twitter post about just how damning the potential charges the former president could be facing should he be prosecuted, Newsweek reports that you can believe the hype.
On Thursday, former Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor tweeted about the “monumental irony” that if legal action is taken against Trump for his hoarding of classified documents, he would essentially be facing the same charges as both WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden — two men who Trump has had lots to say about in the past, including that they both deserved to be executed.
“In a monumental irony, both Julian Assange…and Edward Snowden…stand charged with the very same crimes that are likely to be brought against Mr. Trump. On both Mr. Assange and Mr. Snowden, Mr. Trump argued that they should be executed.”
— Miles Taylor (@MilesTaylorUSA) September 1, 2022
But just how true is Taylor’s statement? According to Newsweek, it’s pretty damn accurate — especially as it relates to Assange and WikiLeaks, who Trump has both praised (“I love WIKILEAKS!!”) and deemed “disgraceful” and deserving of the “death penalty.” (Though it’s worth noting that several Trump insiders, including Don Jr., had ongoing correspondences with WikiLeaks leading up to the 2016 election.)
As we learned from the affidavit authorizing the raid on Mar-a-Lago — as well as accidentally, and hilariously, from Breitbart — Trump is under investigation for violating the Espionage Act, or U.S. Code 793, which is where both Assange and Snowden’s alleged crimes also fall, albeit with slight differences. As Tom Norton writes for Newsweek:
Julian Assange has been indicted on 17 charges under the Espionage Act and one charge of computer misuse for WikiLeaks’ publication of secret American military documents 10 years ago. He faces a potential 175-year prison sentence.
Assange’s indictment sheet states a potential violation of section 793(e) of the Espionage Act, the same section of the act, which the DOJ also mentions in its affidavit to search Mar-a-Lago.
In other words: If prosecuted, Trump could be looking at violating both the same act as Assange as well as the same section of the act — so, pretty much the same crime.
Snowden’s case, however, is slightly different. While he, too, is wanted in the U.S. for violating the Espionage Act, the section of the act is different. ”Broadly speaking, however, it is true that Trump could face charges under the same U.S. act as Snowden and Assange, if not for the exact number or type of indictments,” Norton writes.
Where the real irony comes in is in how hard Trump has publicly come down on both Assange — who some have claimed the Trump administration plotted to assassinate, which is a charge he denies — and Snowden, whom the former president repeatedly called a “traitor” and advocated for his execution:
Found these a while back, seems relevant now: Trump once called for Snowden to be executed for treason for “giving serious info” to Russia pic.twitter.com/iDLhOKtrPk
— Matt Ford (@fordm) May 15, 2017
Of course, Trump has (so far) not been charged with any crimes, so all of this is just food for thought.
(Via Newsweek)