An indictment charging former President Donald Trump with mishandling classified documents has been unsealed. The document released Friday marks the Justice Department’s first official confirmation of a criminal case against Trump arising from the retention of hundreds of documents at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. Trump disclosed the existence of the indictment in a Truth Social post-Thursday night as well as in a video he recorded.
Trump described a Pentagon “plan of attack” and shared a classified map related to a military operation, according to an indictment unsealed Friday. The document marks the Justice Department’s first official confirmation of a criminal case against Trump arising from the retention of hundreds of documents at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago.
Trump disclosed the existence of the indictment in a Truth Social post-Thursday night as well as in a video he recorded. The indictment accuses Trump of having improperly removed scores of boxes from the White House to take them to Mar-a-Lago, many of them containing classified information.
TRUMP FACES 37 FELONY CHARGES
Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents. An indictment unsealed Friday also alleges that he described a Pentagon “plan of attack” and shared a classified map related to a military operation. The document marks the Justice Department’s first official confirmation of a criminal case against Trump arising from the retention of hundreds of documents at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago.
Charged alongside Trump was Walt Nauta, a Trump aide who was seen on surveillance camera removing boxes at Mar-a-Lago. The indictment accuses Trump of having improperly removed scores of boxes from the White House to take them to Mar-a-Lago, many of them containing classified information.
Trump took secret nuclear program documents, charges say
According to BBC, the third point in the indictment accuses Trump of storing "information regarding defence and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries".
The documents also included "United States nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the US and its allies to military attack" and "plans for possible retaliation" in response to a foreign attack, reported BBC.
INDICTMENT ALLEGES TRUMP SHOWED DOCUMENTS TO OTHERS
The indictment unsealed Friday outlined two circumstances in which Trump allegedly showed the documents to others.
One occurred in a meeting with a writer at his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he described federal officials’ “plan of attack” against him and purportedly acknowledging that he knew the information “is still a secret.”
In a later meeting with a representative from his political action committee, Trump displayed “a classified map related to a military operation,” acknowledging he “should not be showing it to the representative and that the representative should not get too close,” prosecutors said.
In the next paragraph, prosecutors note how Trump, at a press conference while president in 2017, addressed media leaks and said that leaking classified information is “an illegal process” and that people involved “should be ashamed of themselves.”
(With inputs from agencies)
