Trump charged with secret documents case

Former US President Donald Trump has been charged with 37 counts of illegal possession of classified documents. About it reported Reuters agency with reference to materials published by the Ministry of Justice.

According to the indictment filed by the office of Special Counsel Jack Smith, Trump’s possession of documents related to some of the most sensitive US military data, including information about the nuclear program and potential internal vulnerabilities in the event of an attack. We are talking about documents from the Pentagon, the CIA, the NSA and other intelligence agencies. The prosecution also alleges that Trump showed another person a DoD document described as a “plan of attack” against another country.

How notes New York Times, Trump was charged with 38 counts. Among them, 31 charges related to concealing information about national defense, 5 to concealing the possession of classified documents, and two more involved making false statements.

Federal prosecutors also indicted a former presidential aide.

According to Reuters and NYT sources, the first trial of the case may be presided over by District Judge Eileen Cannon, appointed to this post by Trump himself in 2019. Trump is due to appear in court in Miami on Tuesday, June 13, on the eve of his 77th birthday.

According to the media, Trump became the first ex-president against whom federal charges were brought. This case, Reuters notes, will not prevent Trump from running his presidential campaign and even taking office if he wins the election.

Trump himself maintains his innocence.

Trump took the classified documents to his estate in Florida after the end of his presidential term in 2020. He subsequently voluntarily turned over these documents to the national archives, but the FBI decided to search his residence anyway in August 2022. As The Wall Street Journal reported at the time, The FBI collected four sets of “top secret” documents and three sets of “secret” and “confidential” documents.

Trump himself said that they were all declassified and that he could hand over these documents voluntarily, without a search. Trump also noted the inappropriateness of the action, calling it a raid, and complained that FBI agents broke into the safe.