Fox News legal commentator Jonathan Turley called the unsealed indictment against former president Donald Trump “extremely damning” on Friday afternoon.
According to the indictment, Trump took classified documents that “included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the U.S. and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for a possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack,” after he ceased to be president on January 20, 2021, acknowledged their highly confidential nature, refused to turn over the documents, and floated the idea of lying about them to federal authorities.
Turley did not mince words in his description of the indictment:
It is an extremely damning indictment. You know, there are indictments that are sometimes called narrative or speaking indictments. These are indictments that are really meant to make a point as to the depth of the evidence. There are some indictments that are just bare bones — this is not. The special counsel knew that there would be a lot of people who were going to allege that the Department of Justice was acting in a biased or politically motivated way.
This is clearly an indictment that was drafted to answer those questions. It’s overwhelming in details. And, you know, the Trump team should not fool itself, these are hits below the waterline. These are witnesses who apparently testified under oath, gave statements to federal investigators, both of which can be criminally charged if they’re false. Those witnesses are directly quoting the president in encouraging others not to look for documents or allegedly to conceal them. It’s damaging.
And the key here to keep in mind that every case I’ve ever been involved with, the indictment was a heart stopper. You know, these are written by lawyers who are trying to client every indictment I’ve ever dealt with has falling apart to some degree. Once we look more carefully at what the evidence may be, but this is is not an indictment that you can dismiss. There are a lot of people who are testifying under oath and they’re saying highly incriminating things with regard to these charges.
Turley also commented on the shake-up to Trump’s legal team on Friday, noting that various unnamed ex-lawyers for the president gave sworn statements included in the indictment.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Mediaite