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Search warrant. talk to me about them, because the whole issue of whether he declassified or didn't declassify really is immaterial to those three laws that they cited. >> yeah. that's absolutely right. i do think it is worth noting that with respect to the espionage act, although it is technically immaterial, it does require it to be national defense information, and there is an argument that the classification system is what fills in the -- and provides gloss to what that means. so that's probably from donald trump's perspective one where if the documents were in fact declassified, that's a ...

Slash as c i. that means top secret sensitive compartmented information, meaning the information there is not meant to be viewed outside of a secure government facility. two sources briefed on the classified documents sought and the original subpoena tell the new york times that federal officials were prompted to search mar-a-lago, because some of the material trump took was particularly sensitive to national security. the unsealed search warrant science three criminal statutes as a legal basis for the raid including, potential violations of the espionage act. and violations of the obstruction...

Know, was the reason why the fbi went to mar-a-lago, the three statutes don't really turn on whether these documents were classified. the one, statute number 739, is a statute that has to do with mishandling of national defense information. it doesn't necessarily say it has to be classified. what that does is it means that the former president's explanations may not matter if, again, this ever gets to court. again, one of the important parts of this is the obstruction statute that is being investigated. same thing, it doesn't matter. so we'll see whether these excuses, these explanations, ever...

Here to say that while the warrant application and the warrants say that the department has probable cause to look for evidence of violations of three statutes, we don't know by whom. that having been said, when representatives of trump will go out and say, they could have had anything they wanted, the warranted so puts the lie to that. and that is because of aids to usc 1819. that is the obstruction statute, alex, that you just referenced. i'll call that the sleeper hit of this war it's. and here is why. it is not just about the removal of a government document. it is about the destruction, m...

Gnatty, former federal prosecutor and host of podcast. good morning. we're grateful to have you. which of these three federal crimes stands out most to you that trump could potentially be charged with? >> actually the one that evan just mentioned, the obstruction statute. here is why. i think the other two stat schuts that were mentioned in that search warrant are statutes that we expected. in other words, if the former president had taken top secret information and brought it to his residence and kept it there after his presidency, i would expect both of those statutes to be cited. i will say...