A former attorney for Hillary Clinton‘s 2016 presidential campaign said in a series of tweets that the potential results of the raid on former President Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago property could disqualify him from running in 2024.
Marc Elias, a top lawyer in the 2016 Clinton campaign tweeted his thoughts Monday, saying that the possession of classified documents belonging in the National Archive could bar a person from seeking any public office.
“The media is missing the really, really big reason why the raid today is a potential blockbuster in American politics,” Elias wrote in a tweet.
https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1556794749377454080?s=20&t=GL79XotmYX7yKG4kSEAcqg
Elias attached a photo of a portion of U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2071 that states, “Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.”
Elias noted in a subsequent tweet that efforts to stop Trump from running under this code may be challenging due to a number of legal issues.
“Yes, I recognize the legal challenge that application of this law to a president would garner (since qualifications are set in Constitution). But the idea that a candidate would have to litigate this is during a campaign is in my view a ‘blockbuster in American politics,’” he wrote.
https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1556804512576323584?s=20&t=GL79XotmYX7yKG4kSEAcqg
Several conservative figures disagreed with Elias’s assessment, including Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton who tweeted shortly after the raid was announced that “The left is being dishonest about the Trump records issue.”
“A president has discretion on what docs to retain as presidential records while in office. So the law allows Trump to tear up documents, shred them, and take documents when he left the White House,” Fitton said.
Fact check: The left is being dishonest about the Trump records issue. A president has discretion on what docs to retain as presidential records while in office. So the law allows Trump to tear up documents, shred them, and take documents when he left the White House.
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) August 8, 2022
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro also weighed in saying “those claiming that a violation of law regarding classified documents would prevent Trump from running, nope — the statutory penalties for any such violation do not overcome the Constitution definition of qualifications for eligibility.”
Shapiro noted in the same tweet thread that it won’t be clear how “fully insane” the raid on Trump was until the warrant and warrant application are made public.