WASHINGTON: Former US president Donald Trump is facing a new legal challenge, this time from the government he formerly headed, with charges for illegally retaining classified documents and other offenses set to be brought in federal court in Miami next week.
According to Reuters, the indictment of a former president on federal charges is unprecedented in American history, made even more remarkable by the fact that Trump is also the Republican Party’s front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination next year.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Trump faces seven criminal counts connected to his handling of sensitive government materials that he took with him when he left the White House in January 2021. Nearly a year ago, investigators seized approximately 13,000 documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. One hundred were classified, despite the fact that one of Trump’s lawyers earlier said that all records with classified markings had been returned to the government.
Federal charges
Trump has previously claimed that he declassified documents while president, but his attorneys have refused to make that argument in court filings. On Thursday, after announcing the indictment, Trump tweeted on his Truth Social platform that he is an innocent man.
According to Trump’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, the allegations include conspiracy, false statements, obstruction of justice, and illegally retaining classified documents under the Espionage Act. He said that he expects to get the charging document by Tuesday when Trump is scheduled to appear in court. Trump is the first president, current or past, to face criminal charges.
It is Trump’s second criminal case. He is presently the leading Republican candidate for the presidency in 2024. He is scheduled to stand trial in New York in March in a state case involving a hush-money payment to a porn star.
