Breaking News: Donald Trump Indicted for Mishandling Documents & Obstructing Justice
Donald Trump, former US president, claims on Truth Social that he faces federal investigation and potential indictment for mishandling confidential materials post-White House. Allegations include breaking the Espionage Act and obstruction, particularly related to records at Mar-a-Lago.
Another "first" for the scandal-plagued Donald Trump would be the sealed indictment: No US president, living or dead, has ever been indicted by the federal government.
Following the announcement of 34 state-level felony charges of falsifying business records in a case involving a hush-money payment to an adult film actress by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in April, Donald Trump became the first US president to be criminally prosecuted with an indictment.
According to a person familiar with the situation, federal prosecutors have accused Donald Trump of breaking the Espionage Act and conspiring to obstruct the criminal investigation, among other charges in the indictment. This is a historic development and represents the former president's greatest legal risk to date.
The seven-count indictment's precise content is unknown because it is still under seal.
The person said that the willful retention of national defense information, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, making false statements, and concealment are at least some of the counts that the office of special counsel Jack Smith filed in federal district court in Miami.
Donald Trump and his legal team were told of the charges on Thursday afternoon. According to the source, who confirmed what Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform, Donald Trump will turn himself in to authorities in Miami on Tuesday at 3pm as per the terms of the indictment.
Prosecutors have been looking into whether Donald Trump intentionally kept sensitive records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office and took action to hide them after the justice department issued an indictment for their return for more than a year.
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After being charged on state charges in New York by the Manhattan district attorney for his role in hush-money payments to an adult film star in 2016, the former president is now a defendant in a second case as a result of the criminal accusations brought against him in the Mar-a-Lago papers investigation.
The country now has to deal with the extraordinary circumstance of a twice-impeached, twice-charged former president vying for re-election due to Smith's indictment, who was chosen by US attorney general Merrick Garland to head the documents inquiry.
The inquiry recently moved to the Wilkie Ferguson US courthouse in Miami, according to the Guardian, when prosecutors summons many witnesses to appear before an as-yet-unidentified grand jury taking evidence in the case in Florida.
Up until May, the majority of grand jury action had been concentrated on the grand jury in Washington hearing the evidence in the case. However, the grand jury stopped working at the beginning of the month, right as the Florida grand jury was appointed, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
According to the FBI's search warrant affidavit for Mar-a-Lago, the inquiry has primarily focused on three laws under section 18 of the US code: deliberate retention of national defense information, obstruction of justice, and the retention of government papers.
The espionage probe has questioned numerous witnesses about whether Donald Trump waved about sensitive information he had kept after leaving office when he was no longer authorized to do so. The investigation has been focused on whether Donald Trump displayed national security materials in his office at Mar-a-Lago, which may lead to additional counts in the indictment.
After Donald Trump made reference to one of these documents in a meeting at Bedminster in July 2021, when he claimed he could not present a specific document because he did not declassify it while president, prosecutors have also questioned witnesses about documents regarding potential US military action against Iran.
In order to achieve this, the prosecution asked certain witnesses who testified before the Washington grand jury if they had ever seen an Iran paper and then proceeded to show them. One person claimed that it was unclear whether any witnesses had attested to seeing the document in connection to the indictment.
According to the people, the focus of the obstruction inquiry has been on whether Donald Trump's failure to completely comply with the subpoena last year was a purposeful act of obstruction because he wanted to keep the sensitive papers even after he left office, which could be another charge included in the indictment.
When the FBI recovered 101 additional classified documents months later, the statement made by the since-recused Trump attorney Evan Corcoran that there were no more materials at Mar-a-Lago last June after discovering 38 secret documents there raised doubts about the extent of Trump's involvement, further implicating him in the indictment.
Later, Corcoran complained to friends that he had been mislead since he had requested permission to search other areas of Mar-a-Lago, such as Trump's office, but had been refused, according to a story by the Guardian.
Additionally, Corcoran told Trump he had to return whatever secret documents he had in his possession, according to his notes, which could be crucial evidence presented in the indictment.
"Trump's Truth Social account is not where we obtain our news. Let's see the facts when any potential indictment is made public," commented Christie, a well-known Trump detractor, on Twitter.
No one is above the law, he said, no matter how much they might wish they were. When the truth is made known, we will have more to say about the indictment.
The majority of Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, stood with the former president and denounced what they saw as a political attack.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, wrote on Twitter that "today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America."
"I stand with President Trump in opposition to this serious injustice, as does every other American who upholds the rule of law. Republicans in the House will hold this blatant usurpation of power accountable for the indictment."
Source: Except the Headline the content on this article were taken from American news companies.
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