Ex-FBI agent to serve 3 years in prison for classified docs case that offers 'glimpse' into Trump prosecution

22 June 2023

In a 37-count federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump, special counsel Jack Smith is alleging that Trump carelessly jeopardized the United States' national security by storing, at Mar-a-Lago, government documents containing classified information. Obstruction of justice is part of the indictment, and 31 of the 37 counts are for alleged violations of the Espionage Act of 1917 — the types of violations that have also been alleged in the prosecution of former FBI intelligence analyst, Kendra Kingsbury.

On June 21, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Bough sentenced Kingsbury to three years and ten months in prison, ordering her to surrender on July 21.

Kansas City Star reporter Jonathan Shorman notes that the sentence "offered the first courtroom clue since Trump's indictment about what the former president can expect if he is found guilty."

Bough, a Barack Obama appointee, told Kingsbury, "I cannot fathom why you would jeopardize our nation by leaving these types of documents in your bathtub."

Shorman reports, "A FBI special agent who helped investigate Kingsbury testified Wednesday, (June 21) that she had kept classified information, in both electronic and paper form, throughout her home, including in a home office and bathroom…. Kingsbury, who worked for the FBI's Kansas City Division, unlawfully retained about 386 classified documents in total over the course of more than a dozen years at the agency. While prosecutors didn't allege a motive, a sentencing memo filed this month says Kingsbury's phone made and received calls with phone numbers associated with the subjects of counterterrorism investigations."

New York Times reporters Adam Goldman and Traci Angel stress that Kingsbury's prison sentence shows "how seriously the government takes such charges" and offers "a glimpse of how aggressively the Justice Department might pursue its case against Mr. Trump."

Goldman and Angel report, "Ms. Kingsbury, like Mr. Trump, was accused of not being helpful or forthcoming with investigators. Ms. Kingsbury's lawyer attributed her behavior to a series of underlying events, including serious health problems she experienced after she began working with the FBI in 2004 and several deaths in the family, including the murder of her uncle in Texas."

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