Donald Trump came under flak after a report said the former president used classified documents to write down his “to-do lists” on classified documents for his former aide, Molly Michael.
What Happened: “Typical autocratic behavior,” Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a New York University professor and MSNBC columnist, said in response to to the report. “When you have no respect whatsoever for the office or any govt. agency, and you think all govt property is your personal asset, this is what happens,” she added.
Michael reportedly told federal prosecutors that she, more than once, received requests or taskings from Trump that were written on the back of notecards, which she later recognized as documents with visible classification markings, an ABC News report said on Monday, citing sources.
Michael reportedly said these notecards were there at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate when the FBI searched the residence on Aug. 8, 2022, but were not taken by the federal agency. When she came up to clean her office day the next day, she found those underneath a drawer organizer and turned it over to the FBI the same day, she added.
A Reuters report later said Trump’s spokesperson “dismissed the report as ‘illegal leaks’ and denied wrongdoing.
Why It’s Important: Trump has an ongoing federal criminal case pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District Of Florida for alleged mishandling of classified documents following his presidency. The grand jury indictment brought 40 felony charges against the former president, and he was arraigned on June 13, although he has pleaded not guilty.
Judge Aileen Cannon has set May 20, 2024, as the start of the trial data despite Trump’s legal team clamoring for an indefinite delay, citing his preoccupations with the presidential campaign.
Trump is the leading contender in the Republican presidential fray for the 2024 general elections despite facing three more criminal cases apart from the classified document case.
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