Donald Trump is expected to be charged on Tuesday over his handling and management of classified documents, news that the former president announced via social media this week.
While details of the indictment remain sealed, Trump told followers on his Truth Social site that he has been informed about the charges for what he's called the "boxes hoax." He will appear in court in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation.
In what might be a particularly ironic outcome, one social media commentator claimed that if Trump is charged for mishandling classified documents, it would be under felony legislation that he signed while president.
The Claim
A tweet by @CalltoActivism, posted on June 9, 2023, viewed 2.6 million times, said: "MAJOR BREAKING: Donald Trump is facing five years in prison and a felony because of a law HE SIGNED in attempt to punish Hillary Clinton in 2018.
"Oh this is GOOD!
"The law HE SIGNED upgrades the crime of wrongly moving classified material from a misdemeanor to a felony.
"Trump signed the bill after spending the 2016 presidential campaign accusing Hillary Clinton of improperly handling classified information."
The Facts
Special Counsel Jack Smith has investigated the president in two probes: for attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and his actions around the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, and the retention of classified documents.
The former president is facing a charge under the Espionage Act, Trump attorney Jim Trusty told CNN on Thursday, in addition to charges of obstruction of justice, destruction or falsification of records, conspiracy, and false statements.
What this will look like, and which specific legislation all the charges will be filed under, remains to be seen. However, there is a distinct possibility that Trump could be indicted for an offense that he made a felony while president, as @CalltoActivism suggests.
As has been widely reported since the Mar-a-Lago raid last year, by outlets including The Washington Post and Insider, Trump in 2018 signed a national security bill that upgraded the seriousness of mishandling classified material from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Trump signed legislation that year that extended section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, part of which included a change to 18 U.S. Code §1924, increasing the penalty for "unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material" from one to five years.
According to Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute, this upgrades the offense from a misdemeanor to a Class E felony.
Before the legislation was signed, Trump had repeatedly attacked 2016 presidential race rival Hillary Clinton over claims that she had mishandled classified information; she was never charged.
While we don't yet know what legislation Trump will be charged under, the similarity of the wording in this bill to the offense that Jack Smith has been investigating strongly suggests he could be charged with this particular felony.
If he is, whether Trump will face a full five years in prison (which the tweet suggests) remains to be seen. However, the irony that he upgraded the punishment guidelines for the crime which he now appears to facing has not been lost.
Trump is facing further headaches ahead of his appearance in court, with audio released reportedly recording him saying how he failed to declassify national security documents during his presidency.
On Friday, CNN reported that federal prosecutors are in possession of a tape in which the former president can be heard saying that he kept "secret" military information that he no longer had the power to declassify.
"As a president, I could have declassified, but now I can't," a transcript of the tape mentioned by the news channel said.
Newsweek has reached out to a Trump representative via email for comment.
The Ruling
True.
In 2018, as part of legislation that extended the FISA Amendments Act, Trump signed changes to U.S. Code that upgraded the sentencing protocol for the crime of mishandling classified documents.
Previously punishable by no more than one year in jail, the change meant those found guilty could face up to five years behind bars, upgrading the crime from a misdemeanor to a felony.
While we don't know yet whether Trump has or will be charged under this law, the similarity of this legislation's wording to the offense that Special Counsel Jack Smith is said to have investigated strongly suggests it could be the case.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
Read more about our ratings.
