1 of 2 Donald Trump speaking to supporters April 4, 2023 Photo: Marco Bello/Portal Donald Trump speaking to supporters April 4, 2023 Photo: Marco Bello/Portal
Former US President Donald Trump said Thursday he has been charged as part of the federal investigation into his handling of confidential government documents at his home in MaraLago, Fla., after leaving office. According to The New York Times, he is the first former US President to face federal indictment.
The criminal case filed by the US Department of Justice represents another legal setback for Trump, who is seeking to regain the country’s presidency in 2024. He is already threatened with criminal proceedings in New York, which should be before the court in March.
“The corrupt Biden administration has notified my attorneys that I have been charged, apparently on the Boxes scam,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump said he must appear in court in Miami next Tuesday afternoon (13). “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” he wrote on his platform.
Trump’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a Portal request for comment. A spokesman for Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was leading the investigation, declined to comment.
Trump faces seven criminal charges in the federal case, the source, who asked to remain anonymous, said. The exact charges have yet to be officially announced.
The US Department of Justice neither commented nor confirmed the case.
According to the Associated Press news agency, Trump and his associates were already preparing for a possible prosecution in the case of the classified documents when prosecutors charged with the investigation were seen Thursday at a Miami courthouse where witnesses were being heard.
Normally, the Department of Justice notifies people when they are under investigation so that they can gather their own evidence that could prove their innocence if the case goes ahead. However, this does not necessarily mean that a criminal charge will be filed.
Consider the case of the documents
In August 2022, investigators seized about 13,000 documents at one of Donald Trump’s homes in MaraLago, Florida. One hundred of these were marked as confidential, although one of Trump’s lawyers has claimed in the past that all the notes marked as classified had been returned to the government.
Trump has already defended the withholding of the documents, claiming he declassified the documents while he was president. However, Trump has never presented any evidence that he actually released the documents, and lawyers have not even made that argument in court.
2 of 2 pages of the document that enabled the FBI to take action at Donald Trump’s home in MaraLago Photo: Jim Bourg/Portal Pages of the document that enabled the FBI to take action at Donald Trump’s home in Mar aLago to take action Lago Photo: Jim Bourg/Portal
Other investigations
A second criminal investigation is looking into alleged efforts by Trump and his allies to reverse his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.
Trump is the front runner in the 2024 Republican presidential race and will replace Biden.
Trump is the first incumbent or former US President to face criminal prosecution. In April, before his 2016 election, he pleaded not guilty to charges brought against him by the Manhattan District Attorney for falsifying business records related to withholding payments to a porn star.