Supports of former President Donald Trump are coming to his side to defend him after a court decided to unveil the contents of the search warrant that granted access for the FBI to raid his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said that it is “virtually impossible” to prosecute Trump, pointing out that no other president has ever been prosecuted for mishandling classified material.
"I thought, surely this is not about classified documents and the president being in possession of those. It has to be more than that because the Department of Justice and the FBI have already set a standard that makes it virtually impossible to prosecute a case like that,” Ratcliffe said during a Fox Business interview.
The warrant released on Friday, stated that authorities were looking for material that was in violation of three federal laws, one including the Espionage Act.
However, Ratcliffe pointed out that the standard was set in 2016 when Hillary Clinton was found to be in possession of classified documents, arguing that it’s “not enough under the Espionage Act.”
“As people talk about Espionage Act and classified documents and all of that, the standard was set in 2016. Remember the Department of Justice and the FBI took the official position that Hillary Clinton, who was in possession of classified documents ... that in possession of that — that wasn't enough and that being grossly negligent ... that's not enough under the Espionage Act,” Ratcliffe said.
Clinton faced criticism in 2016 after she conducted government work while in her role of secretary of state, which included the handling of classified information on a private email server. However, she was never charged for such acts.
Ratcliffe continued to say that Trump has and always will be treated differently, giving Democrats a chance to constantly switch up rules and narratives so that it makes sense to go after the former president.