Former President Trump has been indicted in connection with the handling of classified records, becoming the first U.S. president to be charged with federal crimes, he said on social media Thursday.
“The corrupt Biden administration has notified my lawyers that I have been indicted for the Boxes hoax,” he said on his Truth Social platform. “I never thought something like that would happen to a former US president…I’m innocent!”
Multiple media outlets confirmed the news on Thursday evening. President Trump said he was summoned to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday afternoon.
This unprecedented decision ignored a subpoena for President Trump to knowingly retain top-secret documents and other classified government records and to return all classified documents in his possession when he leaves office in 2021. It comes after more than a year of investigation into whether or not, and whether President Trump and his staff sabotaged the FBI. Efforts to ensure that all documents have been returned.
Presidential and other government records held by the White House must be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration no later than the date the president leaves office. Archives officials immediately questioned why some materials were not received from President Trump in 2021, prompting months of negotiations with the former president and his staff, resulting in a January 2022 release. returned more than 15 boxes of material, including nearly 200 documents marked classified. .
The Archives notified the Justice Department of the classified material, and officials sought a subpoena to return other classified materials in Trump’s possession. Trump’s lawyers have filed about 30 additional documents and a letter saying that an intense investigation found nothing.
The FBI obtained information indicating that more classified records may be in the former president’s possession and secured a warrant to search President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last August. In addition, over 100 documents labeled Classified and Top Secret were found.
Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed by U.S. prosecutors in November. General Merrick Garland will oversee classified documents investigations and another investigation into President Trump’s attempts to stay in office after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.
Reports in recent weeks have fueled speculation that indictments are imminent. According to news reports, President Trump admitted: 2021 Summer Conference Audio Recording Even after he left office, he kept classified Pentagon documents. His lawyers reportedly found no documents related to military plans to confront Iran.
According to other reports, Trump and his aides sabotaging efforts to recover security camera footage, And the special prosecutor’s team is questioning witnesses on the following: Possibility of damage due to flooding of the room Where computer servers containing video surveillance logs were stored.
Garland adhered to precedent and did not reverse Smith’s decision to prosecute.
Smith’s decision further increases the legal challenges Trump faces ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
In March, he was indicted in New York City on 34 felony counts related to allegedly paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels on the final day of the 2016 campaign. It is the first time in history that a former US president has been criminally prosecuted.
In addition to a concurrent investigation into Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Smith is also conducting an investigation in Fulton County, Georgia. Athi. Fani Willis is leading a criminal investigation related to Trump’s alleged efforts to convince Georgia officials to change the outcome of Georgia.
Legal challenges are likely to complicate the Trump campaign. The judge presiding over the New York Criminal Court has ordered President Trump to attend a hearing scheduled to begin in March 2024.
News broke last fall that President Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence, who campaigned last Monday, were found to still be in possession of classified records from their presidency, prompting the 2024 presidential election. It became an unexpected spark for Vice President’s office. These cases are distinguished from the Trump case because both men voluntarily turned the documents over to the Justice Department when discovered.
On June 1, the Department of Justice announced I informed Mr. Pence that the investigation was closed. Involved in the handling of confidential documents without filing charges. In January, Mr. Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Mr. Biden’s handling of classified documents. That investigation is ongoing.
