The 37-count indictment charging former President Donald Trump of mishandling classified documents was unsealed Friday. Trump maintains his innocence.
The indictment, unsealed Friday, also alleges that he described a Pentagon “plan of attack” and shared a classified map related to a military operation.
The document marks the Justice Department’s first official confirmation of a criminal case against Trump arising from the retention of hundreds of documents at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago.
Walt Nauta, a Trump aide, was charged alongside Trump and seen on surveillance camera removing boxes at Mar-a-Lago.
In the news: Ex-FBI Agent Claims People Will Be ‘Incited To Violence’ By Criticism Of Trump Indictment
The indictment accuses Trump of having improperly removed scores of boxes from the White House to take them to Mar-a-Lago, many containing classified information.
On Friday, Trump shot back at the FBI, claiming the feds staged a tipped-over box of documents for photographs included in the indictment.
“Strange! Everything about the boxes was so neat, orderly, and clean,” Trump posted on the social network. “Did the FBI tip over the one box the way they ‘staged’ the papers on the floor during the raid of Mar-a-Lago, only to apologize after getting caught?”
“They all spied on my campaign, so nothing is beyond them!” Trump said Friday.
Trump announced Thursday on Truth Social that his attorneys had been told he was being indicted due to an investigation into classified documents that were the subject of an Aug. 8 raid on Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate he owns.
“Today an indictment was unsealed charging Donald J. Trump with violations of our national security laws along with conspiracy to obstruct justice,” Special Counsel Jack Smith said in a statement to the press Friday. “This indictment was voted by a grand jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida, and I invite everyone to read it in full to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged. The men and women of the U.S. intelligence community and our Armed Forces dedicate their lives to protecting our nation and its people.”
In the news: Trump Campaign Calls Federal Indictment “Legal Warfare” By The “Department Of Injustice”
Following the announcement of a federal indictment Thursday, former President Donald J. Trump released a video stating his innocence to the charges.
The indictment, filed in Federal District Court in Miami, is the first time a former president has faced federal charges in American history.
Congressman Michael Waltz said, “I think at the end of the day, what people see is a sitting president and his DOJ going after the leading political rival in the middle of a presidential campaign.”
Senator Mike Lee said in a statement, “The Biden administration’s actions can only be compared to the type of oppressive tactics routinely seen in nations such as Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua, which are abslutely alien and unnacceptable in America. It is an affront to our country’s glorious 246-year legacy of independence from tyranny, for the incumbent president of the United States to leverage the machinery of justice against a political rival. Such an act of absolute disrespect echoes despotism, making it fundamentally at odds with American democratic values.”
This is the second time Trump has been indicted this year. Trump pleaded not guilty in April after being charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
In the news: Trump Campaign Calls Federal Indictment “Legal Warfare” By The “Department Of Injustice”
“This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a Country in serious and rapid Decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!” Trump said.
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