Trump filed 7 charges in classified docs probe

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WASHINGTON A federal grand jury has indicted Donald Trump on seven criminal charges related to his mishandling of more than 100 classified documents discovered last year at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, making the twice-impeached former commander- in-chief is the first former president to face federal criminal charges.

Trump said Thursday night that his lawyers had been informed that he had been indicted in the special counsel’s investigation into his handling of classified documents. Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed the accusation, one adding that Trump had received a summons to appear in US District Court on Tuesday.

In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said: The corrupt Biden Administration informed my lawyers that I was indicted, apparently because of the Boxes Hoax.

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The charges mark the second time Trump has been indicted since he left office, but the news still reverberated across the country, with supporters and critics weighing in on the scale of the development. While the first round of charges dealt with Trump’s conduct during his 2016 bid for reelection, the new charges deal with his actions after he left the White House and focus on how he handled some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets.

Two sources cited in the seven indictments said the charges include false statements and conspiracy to obstruct. All the cases are related to the retention of documents and obstruction of justice. A source noted that seven charges does not necessarily mean seven are the many numbers that can be associated with each charge.

The nature of the charges was first reported by The New York Times.

Trump’s lawyer Jim Trusty told CNN that a call his legal team received from the feds included at least one charge related to the Espionage Act, “some type of obstruction-based charge, and then false statement charges.” Asked if there was a conspiracy charge as well, he said, “I believe so.” NBC News confirmed that one of the charges is related to the Espionage Act.

A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment.

A separate source said the indictment was under seal, so the government could not comment yet.

The government has given hints about possible charges. A search warrant for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in August said investigators were looking for evidence of three crimes involving the mishandling of sensitive government records, including whether documents were shared with “unauthorized” people. Justice Department lawyers have since raised the prospect of a crime related to obstruction in court filings.

Trump and his Republican allies have focused their response on trying to blame President Joe Biden for the indictment, even though the investigation has been handed over to a separate special counsel.

The White House declined to comment on the accusation. An administration official said the White House was not notified of the accusation and learned about it from media reports.

Asked Thursday why the American public should trust the Justice Department in the face of Trump’s criticism, Biden insisted he didn’t put his thumb on the scale.

“I have never once, not once, suggested to the Justice Department what they should do or not do … any charges or not bring any charges. I am honest, Biden said.

Fundraising email and monthly surveys

Trump appeared prepared when he first announced the existence of the indictment publicly.

Minutes after he announced that he had been indicted on Truth Social, he sent out a fundraising appeal citing the charges.

Biden-appointed Special Counsel has shown me in another witch hunt over documents that I have the RIGHT to declassify as President of the United States, the fundraising email said, asking supporters to contribute to stand peacefully with him.

He later posted a four-minute video on Truth Social in which he said he was “an innocent man” and called the probe “a hoax.”

“I’m an innocent person, he said. “I didn’t do anything wrong. And we will fight for it as we have fought for seven years. It would be wonderful if we could devote all our time to making America again.

A Secret Service official said its staff will meet with Trumps team on Friday to begin planning security and logistics related to his court appearance Tuesday afternoon.

The grand jury’s decision is the culmination of a month-long investigation by the Justice Department now led by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Smith, who was appointed in November after Trump announced his 2024 run for the Republican nomination, takes over ongoing investigations into Trump’s handling of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago, as well as key aspects of the Justice Department’s investigation in Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and efforts to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power.

Republicans defended Trump

Some of Trump’s fellow Republican presidential candidates and congressional allies have dismissed the charges as politically motivated.

Florida Gov. tweeted. Ron DeSantis that “the arming of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society,” while another of Trump’s presidential rivals, Vivek Ramaswamy, said in a statement that I never thought I’d see we will have the day when the US President deputizes the DOJ to arrest his lead rival in the middle of an election.” He repeated his vow to pardon Trump if he is elected president.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called the accusation a “grave injustice.” It is unconscionable for a President to impeach the leading candidate who opposes him, he said on Twitter.

Newly announced presidential candidate Chris Christie, a Trump critic and former federal prosecutor, said he would wait until he saw the indictment before commenting. “Let’s see what the facts are when any possible indictments are brought out,” Christie tweeted.

Trump faces several other investigations. He was separately charged in early April by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to his alleged role in hush money payments at the end of his 2016 presidential campaign. . He is not guilty. He also faces a criminal investigation in Georgia related to the 2020 election, as well as an investigation related to Smith on January 6.

Former President Donald Trump raises his fists to supporters after a campaign rally in Manchester, NH, on April 27. Sophie Park / The New York Times / Redux Pictures

After Trump left office in January 2021, the federal government tried several times to obtain files kept by Trump from his time in the White House, and it gave him and his legal team several opportunities to hand over these.

The government eventually obtained more than 11,000 pages of government documents from Mar-a-Lago, including more than 100 classified documents, after Trumps team proved it had conducted a thorough search for classified document on location.

Trump has denied doing anything wrong, rejecting allegations that he mishandled classified documents by claiming he had already declassified them.

He also compared his situation to that of Biden, who was also found to be in possession of classified documents from the Obama administration. But the circumstances are different.

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