Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin said Monday that former President Trump’s indictment was worse than what his “greatest detractors” thought it could be.
“There’s liability that comes with representing Donald Trump,” Griffin said on CNN. “It’s the same reason he struggled to hire really credible staff even on the campaign and the reelection side of things because you expose yourself to things like Walt Nauta is now seeing, where you yourself can be guilty of committing a crime under his purview.”
“What I think I’m so struck by in this is this indictment, I think, is worse than Donald Trump’s greatest detractors could have dreamt up. Thirty-seven counts, the level of specificity, the details, the imagery, the pictures,” she added.
The Justice Department unveiled its indictment against Trump last week, charging him with 37 counts of mishandling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence and his attempts to block the government from getting those documents. Nauta, one of his aides, was also charged in connection with the mishandling of documents.
Griffin, who served as the communications director under Trump, said it will ultimately come down to what kind of intelligence the documents contained, but “we’re talking nuclear secrets, five-eyes intelligence, the most sensitive intelligence sitting at a country club, in a bathroom with the chandelier.”
“This is a pretty clear-cut case in the eyes of just the American public. I don’t know how he’s going to find a strong defense,” she added.
Trump is headed to Florida on Monday to will make his first court appearance in connection to the charges he faces Tuesday. The federal charges he faces include sentences of up to 20 years in prison.