Last week, CNN reported that the Justice Department put advisers to former President Donald Trump (FPOTUS) before a grand jury sitting in Washington, D.C., in the case involving classified and other documents stored at Mar-a-Lago, heightening the likelihood that charges are forthcoming. This prospect raises a critical open question: Where would the Justice Department bring charges? It is not a straightforward question—the group within the department leading the case, the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, could direct the case to multiple districts.
There are many reasons the Justice Department would prefer to bring charges in D.C., instead of the Southern District of Florida, where the Mar-a-Lago resort is located and much of the alleged unlawful conduct unmistakably occurred. The judges in D.C. are more familiar with cases involving classified information and the Espionage Act, the lead attorneys and agents reside in D.C., the grand jury sits in D.C., and the jury pool in D.C. appears to be less deferential toward FPOTUS. However, these pragmatic considerations could be irrelevant if there is not sufficient
[…]
Content was cut in order to protect the source.Please visit the source for the rest of the article.
Read the original article: