Former President of the United States Donald Trump has been charged with mishandling classified documents after leaving office.
US media reported that Mr. Trump, 76, faces seven charges, including the unauthorized retention of classified documents. The allegations have not yet been made public.
It is the second indictment against Mr. Trump, which entails a maximum 10-year prison sentence if he is convicted.
He is running for reelection to the White House in 2024.
According to legal authorities, the indictment will not prevent Mr. Trump from running for president again.
Mr. Trump stated in a Thursday post on Truth Social that he was innocent and had been summoned to a federal court in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday afternoon, where he will be detained and charged.
He wrote, “I never imagined that such a thing could happen to a former president of the United States.”
He further stated, “This is indeed a somber day for the United States of America. We are in grave and rapid decline as a nation, but together we will “Make America Great Again!”
Jim Trusty, attorney for Mr. Trump, told CNN that the former president had received a summons containing details of the charges.
According to him, they include conspiracy, false statements, obstruction of justice, and unlawfully keeping classified documents.
The Justice Department (DOJ) declined to comment, and the indictment has not been made public.
An indictment is a document that specifies the allegations against a person, giving them notice of their alleged criminal conduct.
The Secret Service will confer with Mr. Trump’s staff and security agents to plan his trip to the courthouse in Miami.
Since November, when he was appointed to supervise the case by Attorney General Merrick Garland, special prosecutor Jack Smith has been analyzing evidence in the documents case.
Last year, Mr. Trump’s Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, was searched and approximately 11,000 documents, including approximately 100 marked as classified, were seized. Some of these were marked as highly classified.
Last week, it was reported that prosecutors had obtained an audio recording of Mr. Trump in which he admitted keeping a classified document after departing the White House in January 2021.
It is illegal for federal officials, including the president, to remove or store classified materials in an unauthorized location.
According to legal authorities, Mr. Trump will still be eligible to run for president.
David Super, a professor at Georgetown University Law Centre, asserts, “He can be indicted as many times as he wants, and it will not affect his ability to run for office.”
Mr. Super noted that Mr. Trump could continue to run for office even if he is convicted in the case involving the documents.
According to recent opinion polls, the property and reality TV mogul is presently the frontrunner among Republican candidates for the White House.
Several prominent Republicans declared their support for Mr. Trump as he sent a fundraising email with the subject line “BREAKING: INDICTED”
Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House of Representatives, stated that it was “unconscionable for a president to indict the leading candidate opposing him”.
“House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponisation of power accountable,” he tweeted.
Mr. Trump’s rival for the nomination in 2024, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, stated, “We have witnessed for years a disparate application of the law based on political affiliation.”
“The DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the Department of Justice, eliminate political bias, and permanently end weaponization,” he added.
Vivek Ramaswamy, who is also a candidate, pledged to pardon Trump on January 20, 2025, and to restore the rule of law in the United States.
Asa Hutchinson, however, stated that Mr. Trump’s alleged actions “should not define our nation or the Republican Party.”
Jack Smith, a former war crimes attorney and tenacious investigator, is in charge of a distinct investigation into Mr. Trump’s role in the assault on the US Capitol.
In April of this year, Mr. Trump became the first former president to be charged with a crime after pleading not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money payment to a porn performer.
Next year, he will stand trial in New York for this case.
