On Friday, US prosecutors released a 37-count charge against Donald Trump, accusing him of exposing national security secrets after leaving the White House in 2021. The federal indictment stated Trump mishandled confidential materials concerning the US nuclear program and domestic vulnerabilities in an attack.
The allegations stated Trump discussed with his attorneys the idea of lying to federal investigators trying to collect the papers, put some in boxes around a toilet, and moved others around his Mar-a-Lago resort property in Florida to hide them.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” According to the 49-page charge, Trump told an attorney.
Prosecutors said unauthorized publication of secret material threatened US national security, international relations, and intelligence.
On a day when Trump’s lawyers John Rowley and Jim Trusty abruptly resigned, the Justice Department announced the criminal charges. Walt Nauta, a former Trump advisor, faces co-conspirator accusations.
Trump will make his first court appearance in the lawsuit in Miami on Tuesday, a day before his 77th birthday.
Trump could get 20 years for obstruction of justice, the greatest penalty, as he would serve all terms simultaneously.
“Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States, and they must be enforced,” US Special Counsel Jack Smith stated during a news conference.
“We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everybody,” Smith said in his first public appearance since Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed him to the inquiry last year.
Smith requested a fast Florida jury trial.
Trump denies guilt. He assaulted Smith online after the charges were released.
“He is a Trump Hater – a deranged ‘psycho’ that shouldn’t be involved in any case having to do with ‘Justice,'” Trump said on Truth Social.
The indictment of a former US president on federal charges is extraordinary and comes as Trump leads the Republican presidential primary.
Reuters/Ipsos polls shows Republican voters are unaffected by Trump’s legal issues.
But Friday’s claims might offer his Republican presidential opponents fodder to undermine his national-security credentials. They mostly support him.
“It’s impossible to bet against Trump’s staying power with the Republican base,” said Matt Bennett of the center-left think tank Third Way. “But this conduct charged in this indictment is even worse than we expected – that might break through.”
Trump and his friends have accused Democratic President Joe Biden of political vengeance, but Biden has remained silent.
Biden declined to comment on the charge, according to the White House.
BOXES IN THE BATHROOM AND BALLROOM
Mar-a-Lago and his New Jersey golf club had the records. The indictment states that Mar-a-Lago entertained tens of thousands of visitors at over 150 events and contains images of Trump’s boxes on a ballroom stage, in a club restroom, and in a storage area, where some were on the floor.
The indictment stated that seven federal intelligence agencies—including the Pentagon, CIA, NSA, and DOE—provided the sensitive documents. One paper discussed a foreign country’s terrorism against U.S. interests.
Trump allegedly handed someone a Defense Department “plan of attack” against another country.
Trump and Nauta are also accused of conspiring to hide sensitive papers from a federal grand jury. Nauta, a Trump White House and Mar-a-Lago employee, faces six charges.
According to the complaint, Nauta lied to the FBI about how certain papers ended up in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago suite. He had moved them from a storage room.
Nauta’s lawyer declined comment.
Investigators collected 13,000 papers at Mar-a-Lago last year. Despite Trump’s lawyer’s claim that all secret papers had been returned, 100 were designated as such.
The indictment states that Trump acknowledged that he lost his ability to declassify materials after leaving office.
TRUMP JUDGE
A source said Friday that US District Judge Aileen Cannon will first preside over the case. The anonymous source suggested she might rule over the trial.
Cannon, appointed by Trump in 2019, made headlines last year when she ruled in favor of the former US president at a crucial stage of the lawsuit and was overturned on appeal.
Trump faces his second criminal prosecution next March in New York for paying hush money to a porn star.
Trump might pardon himself if he wins again, a contentious and unprecedented gesture.
He could not stop the state case against him.
Trump can campaign and take office if he wins in November 2024. Legal experts think he may be sworn in even if convicted and imprisoned.
Trump and his allies are trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, a Democrat. Special Counsel Smith is starting a second criminal investigation.
Georgia’s criminal investigation into Trump’s bid to reverse his loss to Biden is distinct.
