Former President Donald J. Trump has been indicted in Florida in connection with the inquiry into classified documents. Federal prosecutors had been questioning witnesses and gathering evidence in Washington, but changed their minds and decided to press charges in Florida to avoid a potential legal battle over the charges’ location. The indictment includes at least one breach of the Espionage Act, in addition to allegations of false statements and obstruction. Some former federal prosecutors believe that the known charges relate to crimes that occurred in Florida, where a search warrant was issued to retrieve the classified documents stored at Mr. Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago.
Prosecutors were also investigating whether anyone on Mr. Trump’s staff had concealed or moved the documents, which could constitute false statements if done to the FBI. The legally appropriate place to issue charges would be in Florida if that were the case. One former prosecutor, Dennis M. Fitzpatrick, who previously handled national security cases in Virginia, stated that “when a prosecutor thinks he has a strong case, the objective becomes protecting the legal case by taking legal issues off the table.”
The move to indict Mr. Trump in Florida could also mean potentially losing an advantageous and more liberal jury pool in Washington D.C.; however, Florida might not be as receptive to the charges due to Mr. Trump’s popularity there.
Juries in Washington have been quick to sentence rioters egged on by Mr. Trump in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Seditious conspiracy charges against members of far-right groups, the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, had also made it to Washington D.C. courts. Despite doubts over their success, a Washington jury has yet to acquit a single Jan. 6 defendant.
Despite these advantages, Brandon L. Van Grack, a former federal prosecutor who previously worked on cases involving national security and classified material, wrote in a legal publication last year that there were many reasons to bring the case to Washington. He opined that Washington judges were more familiar with cases involving classified information and the Espionage Act, and jurors in the capital appeared to be less deferential towards Mr. Trump. Nevertheless, it seems that the special counsel, Jack Smith, is confident that the charges’ location is appropriate due to the constitutional right to be charged in the location where the crime occurred.
