Even Fox News' top legal commentator says the indictment against Trump is 'extremely damning'

• A top Fox News legal commentator called the indictment against Donald Trump "extremely damning."
• Jonathan Turley had defended Trump the night before on Fox News before the indictment dropped.

If Donald Trump wanted to hear good news about his unsealed indictment, Fox News on Friday wasn't the place to find it.

As details emerged from the shocking indictment against the former president where prosecutors outlined numerous instances of Trump allegedly hiding classified documents and showing them to people, Fox News brought on legal commentator Jonathan Turley to break down the case.

His analysis: It's not good for Trump.

"It is an extremely damning indictment," Turley, a conservative jurist and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, said.

The Justice Department unveiled its 37-count indictment against Trump on Friday, detailing allegations that the former president stashed secret documents and then tried to keep them from investigators. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Turley said the indictment detailed specific instances of Trump's alleged misconduct.

"The special counsel knew that there would be a lot of people who were going to allege that the DOJ acted in a biased or politically motivated way. This is clearly an indictment that was drafted to answer those questions," Turley said. "It's overwhelming in details."

The Fox News commentator noted that the indictment included direct quotations from Trump passed along by cooperating witnesses testifying under oath.

"The Trump team should not fool itself," Turley said. "These are hits below the water line."

He noted in a separate segment on Fox News that a photo showed classified documents stacked in a bathroom at Trump's Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida.

"It's really breathtaking," Turley said. "Obviously, this is mishandling. Putting classified documents into ballrooms and bathrooms ... borders on the bizarre."

Turley warned that jurors would react strongly to seeing the photo evidence of Trump's alleged mishandling of the classified documents.

It was a turnaround from Turley's appearance on Sean Hannity's show on Thursday night before the details of the indictment were released.

Turley told Hannity he was waiting to see what the indictment held, but said "if this indictment is basically a bunch of close calls, I think there's going to be a great deal of recriminations."

Turley even suggested Trump could use the trial as a boost for his campaign, selling his mugshot to whip up his supporters and vowing to self-pardon himself if he's re-elected.

But by Friday morning, Turley was sounding the alarm, saying the indictment posed a "serious threat."

Turley did try to strike a hopeful note, saying that indictments can be a "heart-stopper" but that they will often have "fallen apart" by trial.

But even so, Turley warned Trump's legal team: "This is not an indictment you can dismiss."