Former White House Chief of Staff estimates Trump's sentence to be around 500 years: he will spend the rest of his life in prison. Republican | President | White House
According to a report on the website of Newsweek on the 12th, former White House Chief of Staff under the Trump administration, Mick Marvani, stated that the probability of Trump being convicted after being charged by the federal government is very high, with an estimated sentence of around 500 years, and he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Marvani served as the Acting Chief of Staff at the White House from January 2019 to March 2020. He stated in an interview with British media GB News that the details in the indictment do not bode well for Trump. Marvani stated that the likelihood of a guilty verdict is quite high, and the likelihood of Trump being imprisoned is also quite high. Regarding the possible length of Trump's sentence, Marvani stated that "the sentence is not important" for the 76 year old Trump. Marvani further estimates that the combined sentence for all charges will be around 500 years.
Although the legal community in the United States has raised objections to Trump's possible sentence, they tend to favor him being sentenced to long-term imprisonment. Bar, who previously served as the Attorney General of the Trump administration, also expressed a similar pessimistic attitude towards Trump's prospects on the 11th.
Trump announced in a statement on the 8th that he has been formally charged with the confidential documents case and will appear in the Miami Federal Court for a hearing on the 13th of this month. Trump has long insisted that he did nothing wrong and criticized the investigation as politically motivated persecution.
Related: "Secret Stormy" Involves 37 Federal Offences Trump Arrives in Florida to Arrive
Former Republican President Donald Trump arrived in Miami, Florida on the 12th, preparing to appear in court the next day on 37 federal criminal charges related to the "classified matter scandal.".
Prior to Trump, no former or incumbent US President had ever been charged with federal criminal charges. Trump has announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. A public opinion survey released that day showed that despite being plagued by lawsuits, he is still the most popular candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.
[Accused of keeping confidential national security documents privately]
Trump flew from New Jersey to Miami on the same day. According to the arrangement, he should appear in a federal court in Miami on the afternoon of the 13th to answer the lawsuit.
Before leaving, Trump posted on social media platforms, saying, "I hope the whole nation can see what the radical left is doing to the United States."
Jack Smith, a special prosecutor appointed by the US Department of Justice, released an indictment on the 9th, listing 37 federal felony charges against Trump, accusing him of illegally taking thousands of documents away from the White House when he stepped down in January 2021, some of which involve national security secrets.
The lawsuit states that Trump left a large number of classified documents in a "dangerous way" at his Florida residence, Sealake Estate. The photos attached to the indictment show boxes of documents scattered in the ballroom, bathroom, and storage room. He was also accused of lying to government officials who intended to retrieve documents.
Among the 37 accusations, 31 involve "intentional retention of defense information", while the rest involve "conspiracy to obstruct justice", "false statements", and so on.
Trump insists on innocence and vows to continue running. After his court appearance, he plans to fly back to New Jersey that night and then hold a private fundraising event.
Criminal prosecution looms over the election
This is the second time Trump has been criminally charged since being charged 34 first tier felonies by the New York state prosecutor's office in April for the "sealing fee" case. At that time, he was accused of instructing a private lawyer to pay a "sealing fee" to a pornographic star during his first presidential campaign to cover up the scandal, and forging records to pay this amount to the lawyer.
According to the Associated Press, legal experts believe that the "sealing fee" case has a relatively light weight, while the "confidential matter scandal" case involves allegations of endangering national security. Once convicted, the defendant may face a "considerable" sentence.
Reuters quoted legal experts as saying that even if he is criminally charged or ultimately convicted, it does not prevent Trump from continuing to run for president.
According to the latest poll results released by Reuters and Ipsos on the 12th, 81% of respondents who identify themselves as Republicans believe that the "confidential scandal" case has political motives, and 43% support Trump as the Republican presidential candidate.
Trump accused Democratic Party President Joseph Biden of planning the "classified scandal" aimed at obstructing his campaign. Biden has announced his candidacy for re-election and is under investigation for retaining classified documents from his tenure as Vice President. The Democratic Party has always emphasized the substantive differences between the two cases, stating that Biden has kept a small number of confidential documents and actively cooperated with the investigation, while Trump has kept a large number of confidential documents privately and intentionally obstructed the investigation.