Former President Trump has reportedly been indicted and informed that he must be in a federal court in Miami Tuesday afternoon to be processed on federal charges related to his handling of classified documents post-Presidency.
ABC News Reporter Katherine Faulders reported Thursday evening that there appear to be at least seven counts ranging from obstruction to the willful retention of national defense information to conspiracy, to a scheme conceal, to false statements and representation.
Later in the evening, the New York Times reported that charges include willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act.
On his social media site Truth Social, Trump posted, “The corrupt Biden administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax…I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM. I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States…This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America.”
He further wrote that he is “INNOCENT.”
It was reported on Wednesday that the federal grand jury had been convened in Florida in addition to the grand jury in Washington DC related to the classified documents investigation.
On Monday, June 5 Special Counsel Jack Smith and other Department of Justice officials had met for nearly two hours with Trump attorneys Lindsey Halligan, John Rowley and James Trusty amid reports federal prosecutors are wrapping up the investigation into the former President’s handling of classified documents. The lawyers had reportedly gone to press the argument that Trump should not face criminal charges in the case.
Reports also surfaced that same day that prosecutors were examining whether the draining of a pool that flooded a room in Trump’s Florida country club residence, Mar-a-Lago, that stored computer servers with surveillance footage data was done so intentionally.
On Tuesday, June 6 it was reported that former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had testified before the special counsel grand jury related to both Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and Trump’s handling of classified documents.
Trump has long denied any wrongdoing, asserting repeatedly that he would “have the right” to keep classified material in his personal possession, post-Presidency.
However, reports surfaced in late May that federal prosecutors had obtained an audio recording, from the summer of 2021, which is reportedly of Trump saying he held onto a classified document about a potential attack on Iran. In the recording, Trump reportedly suggests that he knew the document was secret and that he had not declassified it.
Further, Trump’s comments on the recording suggest he would like to share the information on the purported document but he’s aware of limitations on his ability post-presidency to declassify records.
The claim would undermine Trump’s assertions that he declassified all the documents in his possession while he was still President, as well as his claim of having the right to hold on to such a document.
It had been reported for months that Smith’s probe was focusing on whether there is enough evidence to ask the grand jury to charge Trump with obstruction of justice surrounding his handling of the classified documents, including whether the former President took or directed actions to impede government efforts to collect all the sensitive records.
Trump is already facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and conspiracy related to his role in hush money payments during the 2016 campaign season—a first in U.S. history. That indictment came down in New York State court.
The new indictment is another history first—charging a former U.S. President with federal crimes.
