Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew C. McCarthy disputed claims on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump was allowed to retain the sensitive documents that were recovered from his home because of the Presidential Records Act.

Appearing on Fox News while Trump was being arraigned in a Miami courthouse, McCarthy, who is a staunch conservative, pushed back on claims that the classified material that Trump is accused of improperly retaining were his “personal records.”

“As far as the Presidential Records Act is concerned, I must say, I’m tempted to say that the argument is frivolous,” he said. “What President Trump is accused of hoarding down at Mar-a-Lago is not presidential records. These are agency reports. Their agency reports are not what the Presidential Records Act is directed at, it’s not even clear that they would count as presidential records.”

“But in terms of what he’s allowed to keep as personal records, there’s not a conceivable contention that the information that was down there is covered because what personal records under the Act are is things in the nature of diaries and journals and the like,” he explained. “This doesn’t come close to that, this is agency reporting. And on the Espionage Act, you know, the word ‘espionage’ doesn’t appear in any of the codified provision of the crimes that went into federal law as a result of the Espionage Act.”

McCarthy said that there are “various prongs” in the Espionage Act and that the one prosecutors charged Trump with has nothing to do with spying. It pertains to “government officials, who are trusted with national security information, who hold it in unauthorized circumstances, that is in a place where it doesn’t belong, and who willfully retain it when there was a demand made by the government” to return it because they are not legally allowed to have it.

“So what President Trump is accused of is that part of the Espionage Act,” he said. “It’s irrelevant whether there was an intent to harm the United States or not. That’s not a defense to this charge. What the charge is, is he was unauthorized to have it, he willfully retained it. They demanded to have it back and he refused. That’s the crime.”

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WATCH:

Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, who is right-wing and has defended Trump in the past, explains why claims from Trump’s allies that Trump should not be prosecuted because of the Presidential Records Act are not legitimate. pic.twitter.com/jNoYJnZXaN

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 13, 2023

Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), a member of the pro-Trump House Freedom Caucus, said during an interview on Tuesday that he will not support former President Donald Trump’s campaign if a court convicts him of the charges contained in the federal indictment against him.

Buck’s comments come as Trump appeared before federal Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman in the Southern District of Florida on Tuesday where he pleaded not guilty to 37 felony counts for his alleged retention of national defense information, his alleged attempts to obstruct the investigation, and for allegedly lying to investigators.

Buck, who is a former federal prosecutor, said that the allegations in the indictment were “very serious” and that the prosecutors in the case went into great detail to explain to the American public why they believe that the indictment was necessary.

Buck said that he was concerned about equal treatment under the law in the case because Democrats like Hillary Clinton engaged in similar conduct as the former president, but did not face an indictment.

When asked during a CNN interview if he would feel comfortable with Trump as president again given the allegations contained in the indictment, Buck said, “I would not feel comfortable with a convicted felon in the White House, so we’ll see how the case plays out and we’ll see how the evidence is presented and what the defenses are.”

“But let’s just look at Donald Trump’s words in 2016,” he continued. “He said that Hillary Clinton was unfit for the White House because of the way she handled classified information. He said that she wasn’t even qualified to have a low-level State Department job because of the way she handled information. So I think his words have set the standard that America will look at in determining whether he is fit for president.”

Buck noted that Trump was “innocent until proven guilty” and that “after the trial, if he’s convicted of these charges, of mishandling this information, of knowingly concealing his actions, I certainly won’t support a convicted felon for the White House.”

Buck said that Trump could be facing a third criminal indictment in the near future and that the indictments will have a significant impact on the voters in the middle who determine the outcome of elections.

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