Donald Trumps niece Mary Trumprecently raised the possibility of her uncle being convicted ofa more serious offense than the one he was charged within New York.

What Happened: In case you need some good news, theres a chance Donald Trump could be charged with espionage, she tweeted on Friday.

Mary Trump was referring to a New York Times piece that reported thatspecial counsel Jack Smiths team is investigating whether Donald Trump showed off a map containing sensitive intelligence information to aides and visitors after he had takenit with him upon leaving the White House.

Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland as an independent special counselto overseeinvestigations into Donald Trump's role in the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot and the mishandling of government records, including classified documents.

Mary Trump noted that legal expert Dave Aronberg said in an interview with MSNBC thatviolators of the Espionage Act, or 18 USC 719 (e) could face up to 19 years in prison.

Aronberg explains that if Donald was unauthorized to have possession' of the map and showed it to others anyway, hed be in violation of the statute, she wrote.

See Also:Trump's Niece Says Republicans Are Using This 'Donald Tactic' To Their Advantage: 'Don't Even Know Where To Focus Half The Time'

Mary Trump also noted that Donald Trump was reportedly questioned about the map before a criminal grand jury.

This adds a new level of seriousness to Donalds case because it potentially gives prosecutors physical evidence of his crimes: a proverbial smoking gun, Mary Trump wrote.

That means, the very real possibility Donald will not just be charged with, but convicted of a crime just went way up, she tweeted.

Why Its Important: Donald Trump was arraigned in lower Manhattan, where District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged the former president with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to the payment of hush money to adult movie star Stormy Daniels.

Legal experts and analysts are divided over the strength of the case and its implications for Donald Trumps presidential run.

The ex-president also testified this week under oath for several hours in a New York civil case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, whoalleges that heand three of his childrencommittedbusiness fraud.

Photo: Shutterstock