A 37-count indictment against former President Donald Trump regarding his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House was unsealed by the Department of Justice on Friday, making history in the process.
No president has ever faced federal charges, much less the possibility of a protracted prison sentence if found guilty (an aide, Walt Nauta, was also charged with helping Trump conceal records).
Federal Charges for Donald Trump: Handling Classified Documents
Trump will appear in court for the first time in the lawsuit on Tuesday in Florida; the trial might begin while he is still running for president for the third time. For now, Trump has a significant lead over the rest of the GOP field.
The 49-page indictment was written by special counsel Jack Smith, who was selected by attorney general Merrick Garland last year.
Smith had been quiet until a press conference on Friday when he charged Trump with breaking felony laws relating to our national security as well as being a part of a conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Trump should have given over boxes of secret documents to the National Archives when he left the White House in 2021 and taken them with him to Mar-a-Lago, his South Florida golf resort, and home.
Trump’s seeming inability or refusal to grasp the necessity of protecting classified information is at the heart of Smith’s case, as the indictment makes clear:
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Classified Document Mishandling Revealed
The United States nuclear programs, the possibility of military attacks on the country and its allies, and potential plans for retaliation in the case of an attack from abroad were all covered by the classified information TRUMP had in his boxes.
They also discussed the United States and other nations’ military and weaponry capacities.
It’s made worse by pictures from Smith’s indictment showing the allegedly stolen boxes set up on a stage in a ballroom or in a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago.
One image depicts a box that has tipped over and has papers spilling out of it. A guitar box and a clothes rack can be seen looming in the distance.
Aileen Cannon, a district judge in Florida who Trump nominated for the federal bench in 2020, has been given the case for the time being.
She should recuse herself, according to some legal experts, although it’s unclear whether she plans to.
As Trump strives to solidify his status as the Republican contender for president in the upcoming election, that trial may start.
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