Biden DOJ to charge Trump with Espionage Act violation, obstruction of justice as soon as Thursday: report

People familiar with the matter revealed to the Washington Post that the legal rationale behind the move surrounds the bulk of actions at the center of the investigation occurred within the southern district of Florida, in and around the area of Mar-a-Lago, despite much of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation taking place in Washington, DC.

According to The Independent, the Department of Justice is preparing to ask the grand jury to indict Trump for violation of the Espionage Act and for obstruction of justice as soon as Thursday.

The indictment will reportedly regard violations of Section 793, which prohibits the "gathering, transmitting, or losing" any "information respecting the national defense."

Filing some charges in the southern district of Florida doesn’t rule out the possibility of prosecutors bringing forth charges such as perjury or making false statements in a Washington, DC court.

The grand jury has heard from numerous associates and employees working for the 2024 presidential candidate, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

According to The Independent, Meadows has already "given evidence before the grand jury and is said to be cooperating with the investigations into his former boss."

Meadows reportedly testified as part of a deal "for which he has already received limited immunity in exchange for his testimony," the outlet reported.

While a source briefed on the matter claimed the alleged agreement involves Meadows entering guilty pleas to federal crimes, George Teriwilliger, an attorney for Meadows, told the outlet that this was "complete bullsh*t."

On Wednesday, Taylor Budowich, a former Trump aide, appeared before the grand jury in Miami, according to the Washington Post.

The outlet noted that Trump could face a "significantly different’ jury poll in his residing state over one in Washington, DC. Former federal prosecutor Randall Eliason said that this could also speed the path to a trial along, because it could remove potential legal challenges on if the charges were being brought forth in the right place.

“Because these are complicated issues that might go either way, you don’t want to risk spending the first year fighting over venue” and then perhaps being forced to move, said Eliason. “The bottom line is that the venue issues could be complicated and could easily result in two separate indictments with different charges and/or different defendants in DC and Florida.”

Reports on Wednesday stated that Trump has been contacted by the Department of Justice regarding a likely indictment, but the 2024 presidential candidate hit back on Truth Social, writing, "No one has told me I'm being indicted, and I shouldn't be because I've done NOTHING wrong."