(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump was indicted on 37 felony counts related to his possession of highly classified documents. His former chief of staff says his “ego” is hurting him legally and politically.

“He’s not capable of admitting that he ever does anything wrong,” Mick Mulvaney said. “If he’d simply given the documents back once he found out they had them, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But he was not capable of doing that. His ego is simply too large and he simply can’t admit that that stuff is not his.”

A NewsNation political contributor, Mulvaney served as the White House’s acting Chief of Staff during the Trump administration. He joined “NewsNation Prime” to discuss Trump’s indictment as the former president continues campaigning for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination.

In terms of the indictment itself, Mulvaney said it will be the cover-up, not the crime, that will hurt Trump the most.

“It’s not really the crime or the underlying crime that gets people in trouble. It’s the cover-up. Yes, they’re gonna get him for illegal retention of documents, but the really damning stuff in the indictment is what he did to prevent the government from getting these documents back after they found out that they were in Donald Trump’s possession,” Mulvaney said.

Of Trump’s charges, 31 of the 37 counts are for violations of the Espionage Act. However, Mulvaney says there was “no real espionage.”

“It’s a technical violation of the law, and he’s in real trouble legally. But I think one of the reasons you’re gonna see him continue to try and make hay politically is the fact that there’s really no harm here that we see yet,” Mulvaney explained.