WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — While Donald Trump's arraignment marks history for past presidents, it's not the first time we've seen a high-profile indictment for the mishandling of classified documents.
In fact, it may be more common than you think.
Since 2005, the Department of Justice has convicted and sentenced at least 11 government employees on similar charges to Trump. Many of those investigations involved high-profile former officials, including former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and former CIA Director and retired U.S. Army General David Petraeus, who pleaded guilty to unauthorized removal and retention of classified material.
And the list goes on.
"Recently, there was a sentencing of a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who got three years in prison for violations of the Espionage Act, the willful retention of sensitive documents, similar to what Trump is being accused of," Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said. "The difference is that Trump is also being accused of obstruction and lying, and if that retired lieutenant colonel got three years, Trump could be eligible for more."
Aronberg said under the law, if you add up all the counts, it comes out to hundreds of years in prison that Trump could technically be sentenced to.
However, Aronberg said that outcome is extremely unlikely. A three-year sentence, or something similar, is much more plausible.
"But, look, it's tough to imagine Donald Trump in an orange jumpsuit, and I still can't," Aronberg said. "I don't know if he'll serve prison time, but I do think the case is strong. It's powerful. And if the jury and judge follow the law, then he could end up in the hoosegow."
Below is a complete list of previous classified documents cases that WPTV has compiled:
- April 2005: Sandy Berger, a former U.S. national security adviser, pleaded guilty in 2005 to knowingly removing classified documents from the National Archives and Records Administration. Berger admitted to concealing and removing five copies of a classified document from the Archives in September and October 2003.
- March 2013: Retired Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Pierce Bishop was arrested in Hawaii and charged with one countof unlawfully retaining documents related to the national defense. Bishop also pleaded guilty to one count of willfully communicating national defense information to a person who prosecutors say should not have been privy to that information.
- March 2015: David Petraeus, a retired U.S. Army general and a former CIA director, pleaded guiltyto one count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material. The case made national headlines, and was considered an extremely high-profile case at the time.
- July 2015: U.S. Navy reservist Bryan Nishimura pleaded guilty to downloading and storing classified documents from his deployment to Afghanistan in 2007-2008. Prosecutors said he stored the documents on his personal devices and media. He was sentenced to two years of probation and a $7,500 fine.
- August 2016: Former National Security Agency contractor Harold Martin was sentenced to nine years in federal prison,followed by three years of supervised release, for willful retention of national defense information. As detailed in his plea agreement, Martin retained stolen documents and other classified information at his residence and in his vehicle.
- January 2017: Former defense contractor and sailor, Weldon Marshall, was arrested for unlawfully retaining classified information. Prosecutors said he stored the information on personal compact discs and computer hard drives that he kept at his home in Texas. Marshall pleaded guilty to the charges in March 2018.
- January 2018: Former CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee was arrested on charges of unlawful retention of national defense information. Prosecutors said he had two small books that contained handwritten notes that included the names and phone numbers of assets and covert CIA employees as well as other material. He pleaded guilty in 2019.
- May 2018: Former CIA contractor Reynaldo Regis pleaded guilty to charges of unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials. Prosecutors said he also pleaded guilty to making false statements to federal law enforcement officers. In November 2018, Reyes was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
- August 2019: Former National Security Agency (NSA) employee Elizabeth Jo Shirley was charged with keeping top secret documents on her electronic devices, storing some in Mexico and some at her home in West Virginia. She pleaded guilty in July of 2020 to one count of willful retention of national defense information.
- June 2020: Asia Janay Lavarello, a U.S. Defense Department employee, was charged with removing classified information after investigators found multiple classified documents at her home. Prosecutors said those documents were seen by guests at a dinner party she hosted after coming back from a temporary assignment to the U.S. Embassy in Manila. She pleaded guilty in July of 2021.
- May 2021: Kendra Kingsbury, an employee at the FBI’s Kansas City division, was indicted on two counts of having unauthorized possession of documents relating to the national defense. The federal indictment alleges that Kingsbury improperly removed sensitive government materials – including national defense information and classified documents – from June 2004 to Dec. 15, 2017. Kingsbury allegedly retained these materials in her personal residence.
