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Washington — Before a former FBI intelligence analyst was sentenced to prison last month, she asked a judge for leniency after pleading guilty to the same Espionage Act charge that former President Donald Trump is accused of violating.
"Her situation has been publicized locally and nationally — garnering mention alongside prominent political figures whose conduct appears uncannily analogous to Ms. Kingsbury's," her lawyer wrote in a sentencing memo that asked for probation.
The analyst, Kendra Kingsbury, was sentenced to 46 months in prison for willful retention of national security secrets, accused of illegally keeping 386 classified documents at her personal residence in Kansas. She pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Espionage Act that involved 20 of the documents.
Kingsbury's case and others involving Espionage Act violations offer a guidepost for the potential consequences Trump faces if he's convicted, but also highlight the uniqueness of his case.
A federal grand jury indicted the former president in June on 37 counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents and obstruction of the government's efforts to retrieve them from his Mar-a-Lago club. Of those charges, 31 are for alleged violations of the Espionage Act.
"Charging a former president of the United States under the Espionage Act of 1917 … is one of the most outrageous and vicious legal theories ever put forward in an American court of law," Trump told his supporters on June 24. "The Espionage Act has been used to go after traitors and spies."
Though the nation's most notorious spies were prosecuted under the Espionage Act, Trump is not charged with being a spy. He is charged with violating 18 U.S.C. 793(e), a provision of the law that makes "unauthorized possession" of documents "relating to the national defense" a crime. He has pleaded not guilty.
"It is rare that these cases ever go to trial," Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer, told CBS News.
Since 2017, at least seven cases involving the same provision of the Espionage Act ended in guilty pleas, including Kingsbury's. Another went to trial, resulting in a guilty verdict. None were sentenced to the maximum 10 years in prison — sentences ranged from 18 months to nine years — and more than half received lesser sentences than the government had asked for.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/much-prison-time-trump-faces-174543311.html
"Her situation has been publicized locally and nationally — garnering mention alongside prominent political figures whose conduct appears uncannily analogous to Ms. Kingsbury's," her lawyer wrote in a sentencing memo that asked for probation.
The analyst, Kendra Kingsbury, was sentenced to 46 months in prison for willful retention of national security secrets, accused of illegally keeping 386 classified documents at her personal residence in Kansas. She pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Espionage Act that involved 20 of the documents.
Kingsbury's case and others involving Espionage Act violations offer a guidepost for the potential consequences Trump faces if he's convicted, but also highlight the uniqueness of his case.
A federal grand jury indicted the former president in June on 37 counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents and obstruction of the government's efforts to retrieve them from his Mar-a-Lago club. Of those charges, 31 are for alleged violations of the Espionage Act.
"Charging a former president of the United States under the Espionage Act of 1917 … is one of the most outrageous and vicious legal theories ever put forward in an American court of law," Trump told his supporters on June 24. "The Espionage Act has been used to go after traitors and spies."
Though the nation's most notorious spies were prosecuted under the Espionage Act, Trump is not charged with being a spy. He is charged with violating 18 U.S.C. 793(e), a provision of the law that makes "unauthorized possession" of documents "relating to the national defense" a crime. He has pleaded not guilty.
"It is rare that these cases ever go to trial," Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer, told CBS News.
Since 2017, at least seven cases involving the same provision of the Espionage Act ended in guilty pleas, including Kingsbury's. Another went to trial, resulting in a guilty verdict. None were sentenced to the maximum 10 years in prison — sentences ranged from 18 months to nine years — and more than half received lesser sentences than the government had asked for.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/much-prison-time-trump-faces-174543311.html