VIOLATION OF 18 U.S. CODE § 1001
The crime of making a false statement is governed by
18 U.S. Code § 1001. According to the statute, a violation includes anyone that
willfully and knowingly:
- falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
- makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
- makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry.
In other words, there are three broad ways to violate this statute. The first is to conceal a material fact through fraud. This can occur without a person directly lying to the FBI. For example, handing over written documents after secretly removing an incriminating one could count as a violation of the statute.
The second prong of the statute relates directly to false statements. It is unlawful to make any materially false or fraudulent statement or representation. This goes beyond a direct lie and also covers indirectly misrepresenting the truth.
Finally, the third section covers non-verbal acts that are covered by the statute. These include providing the FBI with any forced or false document knowing it includes a materially false statement.
It came to be when Donny willingly and knowingly instructed his attorney's to make a false attestation that he'd handed back over all of the classified documents as required by the law.