The federal indictment against former President Trump has been unsealed, and it reveals that Trump is facing 37 counts altogether.
The 44-page document can be read here.
It says that Trump illegally kept documents regarding “United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.”
Prosecutors also present evidence that Trump shared a highly sensitive “plan of attack” to visitors at his country club residence in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, and that he was recorded on audio tape describing the material as “highly confidential” and “secret,” while it admitting it had not been declassified, which had been previously reported.
It further says that Trump stored boxes classified information from such federal agencies as the CIA, Pentagon, NSA, and the National Reconnaissance Office, among others, in “a ballroom, a bathroom & a shower, an office space, his bedroom and a storage room.”
The indictment reaches back to the end of Trump’s term in January 2021 when the documents, many from the White House residence, were packed in boxes along with lothes, gifts, photographs and other material, and shipped by the General Services Administration to Mar-a-Lago.
Trump was indicted Thursday evening by a federal grand jury in Florida and informed that he must appear in a federal court in Miami Tuesday afternoon to be processed on federal charges.
The charges stem from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into whether Trump broke the law in his mishandling of classified documents after an FBI raid had discovered hundreds of hundreds of federal documents—many of them classified—at Mar-a-Lago. Smith, a veteran career prosecutor, had received his appointment as special counsel from Attorney General Merrick Garland in November.
Along with willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, Trump is also charged with making false statements and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Walt Nauta, a former Presidential aide who continued to work for Trump after he left office, is also charged in the indictment.
The former President has denied any wrongdoing, posting on his Truth Social media site in all caps Thursday evening, “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”
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 historic first—charging a former U.S. President with federal crimes.
