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The evidence included in the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump is "airtight" and "devastating" for the ex-president, according to lawyer and frequent Trump critic George Conway.
Conway, who announced this year that he was divorcing former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway after 22 years, said that the indictment offered "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" during a CNN interview on Friday night.
The Department of Justice unsealed the historic indictment earlier on Friday, revealing that the ex-president was being charged with 37 felony counts that grew out of Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation of Trump's post-presidency handling of classified documents.
The charges include 31 counts pertaining to the Espionage Act. Other charges include conspiracy to obstruct justice; withholding a document or record; corruptly concealing a document or record; concealing a document in a federal investigation; scheme to conceal; and false statements and representations.
Conway said that the obstruction of justice charge was particularly damning based on evidence against the former president, arguing that the indictment offered proof on nearly "any page or paragraph."
"It's devastating," Conway said. "You can just take almost any page or paragraph and you basically have proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In Paragraph 54, [Trump says] 'What happens if we don't respond at all, wouldn't it be better if we just told them we don't have anything here?' ... He's asking his lawyer to lie."
"I mean, it's crazy how powerful this evidence is," he continued. "You can just take one-tenth of this and you have a case that's airtight."
Newsweek has reached out via email to the offices of Trump and the former president's lawyer Todd Blanche for comment.
Conway is not the only legal expert to have touted the strength of the evidence against the former president after reading the indictment. Lawyer Ryan Goodman, former special counsel at the Department of Defense, also called the case "devastating" for Trump.
"I have looked at all prior prosecutions under the Espionage Act and have never seen egregious facts like this," Goodman tweeted on Friday.
Some have cited in particular a portion of the indictment claiming the existence of a July 2021 audio recording in which Trump says he never declassified a document that he was discussing with associates who lacked the appropriate security clearances.
Trump's public comments have contradicted the purported tape, with the ex-president having frequently insisted that he "automatically" declassified all of the documents that he kept after leaving the White House.
Trump, who is also facing over 30 state felony counts in New York and could still be hit with more federal charges relating to his January 6 activities, denies criminal wrongdoing of any sort, arguing that he is the victim of a "witch hunt" and "persecution" by Democrats.
About the writer
Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more