The Prosecutor’s Office has requested a maximum of one hundred years in prison for Donald Trump and 90 for his valet, Waltine Nauta, for stealing State secrets from the White House, refusing to return them, lying to the authorities, hiding them, and obstructing the justice action. This is stated in the indictment that was delivered to Trump’s lawyers on Thursday and made public yesterday Friday.
On Tuesday, the former president of the United States will be officially arrested – although that does not mean he will be locked up in a cell – in Miami. Trump has asked his supporters to go to that city, a call that has been repeated by many of his leaders, which has raised fears of incidents. At this time, it is not known whether the trial, which will most likely take place in election year 2024, will take place in the city.
In total, Trump faces 38 charges for 7 crimes. Of the first, 31 are for voluntary withholding of information related to national defense. The commission of this alleged crime entails a maximum of 10 years in prison plus 3 years on probation. Charge number 32 is for obstruction of justice, and carries a cap of 20 years in prison plus 3 years of probation.
Willful withholding of US defense information is a crime established by the Espionage Act, established in 1917 to prevent the delivery of sensitive information to the Central Powers – Germany and Austria – during World War I. This norm has been the main legal tool used by the United States to fight against espionage carried out by its citizens.
Among his most famous cases is that of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg couple, who were sentenced to death and executed in 1953 for passing all kinds of military information to Stalin’s Soviet Union. There is also that of Israel spy Jason Pollard, whose life sentence was cut after 28 years in prison. No such luck was given to Robert Hanssen, a member of Opus Dei who died this week in prison, where he had spent 22 years after being convicted of decades of espionage for the Soviet Union, first, and Russia, later.
The same maximum sentences are applicable to the three charges against Trump for hiding documents, one of them with the aggravation that he did it to hinder a federal State investigation and another with the added accusation of corruption. So, we already have 90 years in jail and 15 on probation. The last two charges correspond to the crimes of conspiracy to conceal and false testimony, each with a maximum of 5 years in prison and 3 probation. The total is, therefore, 100 years in prison and 31 years of probation.
Besides, Trump could be sentenced to pay a fine that, in the worst case, would reach an amount of two million dollars (1,860,000 euros). That is a tiny amount for Trump who, according to the financial magazine Forbes, has a net worth of 2.5 billion dollars (2.3 billion euros). The year 2022 was very bad for the pocket of the former president, who saw his wealth fall by 700 million dollars, that is, 22%, due to the collapse in the value of his social network, Truth, which has gone from having a valuation from 700 million dollars to only between 5 and 25 million, according to the documentation presented by Trump himself.
These penalties are the maximum that carry the crimes of which Trump is accused. But the final decision corresponds to the jury of the case – who must decide if he is guilty or not – and to the judge, who will decide the number of years and the amount of the financial penalty. The former president is not, either, the only defendant. Almost forgotten by the media and public opinion in general is his valet, Waltine Nauta, who faces 90 years in prison, 18 years probation, and $1.5 million (1.4 million euros) in fines.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
