George Conway says individuals defending Trump over his handling of presidential records are 'basically desperate'

George Conway during a CNN interview was highly critical of Trump's handling of classified documents.
"Having top-secret FBI information in our home? You're not allowed to bring that out," he said.
Conway said individuals defending Trump and criticizing the FBI were "basically desperate."

Conservative lawyer George Conway on Friday said that former President Donald Trump was in "very substantial legal jeopardy" over his handling of top secret documents and blasted individuals defending the former president as "basically desperate."

During an interview on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront," Conway remarked on developments regarding the FBI's search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, after The Wall Street Journal reported that agents had retrieved 11 sets of classified documents from the presidential residence, including some documents labeled as "top secret." When asked by host Erin Burnett if Trump was in "real trouble," Conway responded in the affirmative.

"He's in very substantial legal jeopardy," he said. "If anybody else had done this, if a national security advisor had done this, if an assistant to the president had done this, if I had done this, if you had done this, we'd probably be already charged."

He continued: "Having top-secret FBI information in our home? You're not allowed to bring that out. You're not allowed to bring that home. People have been charged for a lot less."

Friday's release of the FBI search warrant and property list reveals that agents were looking for documents connected to potential violations of the Espionage Act, which bars the unauthorized removal of defense-related information that could aid a foreign government.

Trump is also being investigated for potential obstruction of justice violations.

The warrant was unsealed after the Department of Justice pushed for its public release after the former president and many of his allies immediately launched political attacks calling into question the integrity of the department.

The former president has slammed the probe and denied reports that he was in possession of classified documents related to nuclear weapons, calling it a "hoax."

On the CNN program, Burnett played a statement from Kash Patel — a Trump loyalist and onetime chief of staff to former Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller — who said that it was not the former president's responsibility to organize presidential documents.

"The GSA has since come out, the Government Services Administration said they mistakenly packed some boxes and moved them to Mar-a-Lago. That's not not on the president. That's on the National Archives to sort that material out," he said on Fox News.

However, the GSA on Friday responded and said the onus rests with an administration on what is transported when a president leaves the Oval Office.

"The responsibility for making decisions about what materials are moved rests entirely with the outgoing president and their supporting staff," the agency said in a statement.

On CNN, Conway proceeded to lambast individuals who have backed Trump's claims regarding the FBI's search.

"The people who are trying to defend Trump are basically desperate," he said. "They've been making all sorts of insane arguments, arguing that the FBI planted documents."

"None of this makes any sense at all. In order to have taken them from the White House, he probably brought them up to the residence. He had no business bringing top-secret FBI material from the Situation Room or the Oval Office up to the residence. He had no business having these documents and as soon as the Archives pointed that out, every single one of them should have been returned to the government, and he didn't do that," he added.

Conway, who is married to former 2016 Trump presidential campaign manager and ex-White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, has in recent years attracted a large social media following and become a frequent presence on cable television for his sharp criticism of the former president — a huge contrast to his wife's support of the former president.

Kellyanne Conway earlier this summer said on CNN that there has been "a lot of hurt" in her marriage connected to her husband's vocal opposition to Trump, which she also detailed in her memoir, "Here's the Deal."

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