Special counsel says Trump ‘put our country at risk.’ Read the unsealed indictment
Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Friday detailing an expansive case against former President Donald Trump — 37 counts accusing him of sharing defense secrets with unauthorized persons, mishandling classified documents after leaving office and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve the records from his Palm Beach estate.
The 49-page indictment released by the Department of Justice accuses Trump of willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements and conspiracy to obstruct justice. It included far more charges than Trump’s defense team had earlier in the week suggested that he might face when he is scheduled to show up Tuesday afternoon in the federal courthouse in downtown Miami.
A former presidential aide, Waltine Nauta, who continued to work for Trump after he left the White House, was also charged in a 38th count in the indictment.
Trump continued to rail against the indictment on Friday, calling it the “Greatest Witch Hunt of all time,” in a post on his Truth Social site. But the indictment described alleged violations, many previously reported, that prosecutors called a threat to national security.
“The classified documents Trump stored in the boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the U.S. and foreign countries, U.S. nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the U.S. and its allies to military attack,” the indictment reads.
In a statement to the press, Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating both Trump’s handling of classified information and his conduct before the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, said his office would “seek a speedy trial in this matter consistent with the public interest and the rights of the accused.”
“Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States, and they must be enforced,” Smith said. “Violations of those laws put our country at risk.”
“This indictment was voted by a grand jury of citizens in the southern district of Florida, and I invite everyone to read it in full to understand the scope and gravity of the crimes charged,” Smith added.
The federal grand jury in Miami had been hearing evidence in the case for several weeks. Trump’s case was initially assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who was appointed by the former president in 2020. She was widely criticized for her handling of his civil case challenging the FBI’s seizure of classified documents at Trump’s private residence, Mar-a-Lago., last summer.
The indictment, returned by the federal grand jury in Miami Thursday, marks the first time a former president has faced federal charges. Trump is seen as the current front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to face President Joe Biden, whose administration will now be seeking his conviction in a case brought by Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
This story was originally published June 9, 2023 at 2:22 PM.
