Donald Trump believes Hillary Clinton could face significant jail time – 'up to 20 years in prison' – as a consequence of storing classified information on her now-infamous private email server.

And a law that Clinton herself once voted for while she served in the U.S. Senate could come back to haunt her – and turn Trump into a criminal-justice prophet.

'If you look at what's going on with the emails, it's a fraud if you think about it,' the Republican presidential front-runner told The Hollywood Reporter in his first magazine interview since launching his unconventional White House bid.

'This looks like Watergate on steroids, frankly,' he said in a videotaped sit-down.'Watergate was about the cover-up more than the act.'

ALREADY WEARING ORANGE? Hillary Clinton could face 20 years in prison for deleting her emails, according to Donald Trump

Trump spoke to the Hollywood Reporter in his first full-lenth magazine interview since he launched his front-running presidential campaign

'This isn't something we're going to solve tomorrow. This could go on for years. You can't have a nominee who is under investigation. What are they going to do, run and then two nights before the presidential race she gets indicted?'

MEDIA BLITZ: Trump sat down with The Hollywood Reporter, an unusual venue for a presidential candidate, as part of a series of interviews that included CNN and Time magazine

Trump pointed to the legal saga of Gen. David Petraeus as a cautionary tale for Clinton, saying the former CIA director, who was prosecuted for sharing classified information with his biographer-mistress, was a choirboy by comparison.

'General Petraeus, for doing 5 percent of what she did, his life has been destroyed,' Trump said.

'And it goes up to 20 years in prison. It's from one to 20 years for what she did!'

The Hollywood Reporter noted that 'it's unclear what penalty Clinton might face if charged and convicted,' but potential criminal charges could range from obstruction of justice to destroying documents, and even a long-shot bribery charge, according to a former federal prosecutor who asked not to be named 'for political reasons.'

'If she deleted a document – any document – "in contemplation of an investigation," that's a felony,' the former prosecutor said. 'It's called tampering with evidence.'

'And if anything in those deleted emails shows Clinton talking to people about donations for the Clinton Foundation in exchange for official acts, that's bribery.'

The evidence-tampering statute, known in legal circles as 18 U.S.C. § 1519, carries a potential 20-year prison term.

It was part of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate misconduct law, passed in 2002 – with a 'yes' vote from then-Senator Hillary Clinton.

Intended as an anti-shredding law, it makes a felon of anyone who 'knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry' in an official record 'with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter ... or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case.'

The 'ANTI-SHREDDING' STATUTE WITH A 20-YEAR PRISON TERM 'Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.' – 18 U.S.C. § 1519 Advertisement

Clinton acknowledged directing her aides to destroy more than 30,000 emails before turning the remaining contents of her private server over to the State Department in late 2014.

At the time, Congress was investigating her actions related to the deadly 2012 terror attack in Benghazi, Libya, and Clinton was the subject of a congressional subpoena for documents.

A Clinton spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump also told The Hollywood Reporter that he expects the power of his celebrity, his business acumen and his refusal to trade political favors for seven-figure contributions to carry him far into the presidential campaign.

'If I weren't a successful person, it wouldn't work as well,' he said. 'Voters have great confidence in me because I really have been successful. I have an income of over $400 million a year. I don't need anybody's money.'