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Helen Mar Johnson Biography & Facts

On August 8, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, the residence of former U.S. president Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida. The search warrant application was authorized by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and approved by Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, following a criminal referral by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The order, unsealed a few days after the search, showed that the FBI obtained the search warrant as part of an investigation into Trump relating to three federal criminal statutes: violations of the Espionage Act regarding unauthorized retention of national defense information; destroying or concealing records "with the intent to impede obstruct or influence" federal government activity; illegal removal or destruction of federal government records (without respect to cause). Later, courts released the affidavit with redactions, giving the public a window into the FBI's goals in this search and what the FBI seized. In 2021, NARA tried to recover material, and Trump went through the material in his possession at the end of that year. Surveillance footage subpoenaed by the Justice Department in June 2022 showed boxes were moved in and out of a storage room at some point. The Justice Department said the classified documents at Mar-a-Lago were likely "concealed and removed" to block investigation. Over 13,000 government documents were recovered. They included nuclear-related information and FBI, CIA, and NSA information about national security interests. Of these documents, 337 were classified: 197 handed over in January 2022, 38 turned over under subpoena in June 2022, and 102 seized in the August search of Mar-a-Lago. Months later, at least two more documents with classified markings were uncovered at Trump locations. On June 8, 2023, Trump was indicted on federal charges related to the documents. On June 13, 2023, Trump surrendered to federal custody and was arrested, booked, processed, and arraigned in the U.S. District Court of South Florida. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 charges. On July 27, a new version of the indictment (superseding the old) added three counts against Trump. Background Handling, storage, and disposition of U.S. government records The Presidential Records Act (44 U.S.C. ch. 22) establishes that presidential records belong to the United States and must be surrendered to the Archivist of the United States at the end of a president's term of office (or second term of office, if consecutive). Unauthorized removal and retention of classified information of the United States government is a criminal offense under U.S. federal law; it has been a felony since the enactment of the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump in January 2018 and increased the maximum term of imprisonment for this offense from one year to five years. Criminal laws listed on search warrant The search warrant and accompanying affidavit listed three federal criminal statutes as the basis of the investigation: "18 U.S.C. §§ 793, 2071, [and] 1519". The Sections cited are: § 793, enacted as part of the Espionage Act of 1917, makes the unauthorized retention or disclosure of documents related to national defense, which could be used to harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary, a crime. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison. The Espionage Act was passed before the development of the modern classification system of the United States government, and thus does not refer to the classification status of the documents; unclassified "national defense information" would still be covered under the Espionage Act. As noted by the Congressional Research Service, the "affidavit supporting the warrant focuses on subsection (e), which applies when an individual is in unauthorized possession of certain national defense information". § 2071 criminalizes the theft or destruction of government records, regardless of their relevance to national security. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison. § 1519, enacted as part of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, criminalizes the act of destroying or concealing documents or records, regardless of their relevance to national security, "with the intent to impede, obstruct or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter" within the jurisdiction of any federal department or agency. The maximum penalty is 20 years in prison. Classified material and the presidency Beginning in 1940, U.S. presidents have used the constitutional and statutory powers of the president of the United States to create classification systems through executive orders. The Code of Federal Regulations contains rules for classified material as 32 CFR 2001. Generally, the president and the United States National Security Council set information security policy such as the sharing and classification of information. The day-to-day oversight of the government-wide classification system is handled by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), a component of the National Archives. Declassification, presidential powers and regulations Since the 1988 Supreme Court decision in Department of the Navy v. Egan, there is consensus that a sitting president has broad Constitutional powers to classify (and declassify) information. However, there are procedures for doing so. Following former President Trump's claims that the documents found at Mar-a-Lago had been declassified, the Congressional Research Service issued a policy paper in August 2022 highlighting relevant regulations: per 32 CFR 2001.25, the declassification process requires markings "uniformly and conspicuously applied to leave no doubt about the declassified status of the information and who authorized the declassification". In 2003, Scooter Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, claimed to have received a direct but unrecorded disclosure order from President George W. Bush and Cheney to leak classified information to reporters. In what became known as the Plame affair, Libby was ultimately not charged for releasing classified information. Steven Aftergood, a critic of U.S. government secrecy policy, said the case "highlights the fact that the president purports to, or does, stand outside of the classification system". Protocols for loss or compromise of classified material Federal regulations require that "any person who has knowledge that classified information has been or may have been lost, possibly compromised or disclosed to an unauthorized person(s) shall immediately report the circumstances to an official designated for this purpose." Regulations also require notification of the Director of the ISOO if the specific classified information could attract "significant public attention", if the information in question is voluminous, or if a key vulnerability has been exposed. The Department of Justice is also to be consul.... Discover the Helen Mar Johnson popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Helen Mar Johnson books.