Washington – former President Donald Trump Thursday said he has been charged in connection with a federal investigation into his handling of Sensitive government documents After he left the White House, a historic move likely to upset the ongoing presidential race in 2024. Two US officials confirmed the charges to CBS News, as did Trump’s lawyer.
in mail On his Truth Social account, Trump said he was notified by attorneys at the Justice Department that he was being charged with a “box scam” and has been arraigned in federal court in Miami on Tuesday.
“I never thought that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who has received far more votes than any sitting President in the history of our country, and is currently leading, by far, all candidates, both Democrats and Republicans, in the election polls Presidential for 2024. I’m a handyman!” he claimed.
It was not immediately clear the exact nature of the charges, which were first to emerge from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation. But a source familiar with the case said the former president has been charged in a multi-count indictment of withholding information for national defense and obstruction.
The decision to pursue Trump’s indictment is a remarkable and unprecedented step, and marks the first time the Justice Department has brought federal charges against a former president. Trump lawyers He met with officials of the Ministry of Justiceincluding Smith, on June 5 and discussed concerns about the prosecution’s efforts at the investigation.
The indictment adds to the legal danger surrounding the former president amid his third bid for the White House. Trump as well He faces 34 felony charges for falsifying business records in a New York state court, and A.J trial in this case It is set to begin on March 25, 2024, in the midst of the presidential campaign. He pleaded not guilty to the charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The chief prosecutor in Fulton County, Georgia, is also is expected to announce This summer questioned whether Trump or any of his allies would be impeached following an investigation into efforts to reverse the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
The former president has denied any wrongdoing in connection with all of the investigations.
Regarding his handling of government documents, he has sometimes claimed that Declassified Sensitive documents discovered at Mar-a-Lago. Trump has it too confirmed The materials he kept were “personal,” and so did not have to be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration when he left office, and were protected by executive privilege.
Records at Mar-a-Lago
The new criminal charges stem from A 15 months long effort by the federal government to recover records Trump had at his South Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, after his presidency ended in January 2021. During the spat between Trump and the National Archives, it initially happened behind the scenes with secret subpoenas for records and security camera footage, The dispute erupted into the public eye on August 8, 2022, when the FBI conducted a court-authorized inspection of the property.
Federal investigators seized 33 boxes of material, 13 of which contained just over 100 documents marked confidential. The records were released after an FBI search, including a dossier affidavit used to justify a search warrant and guarantee itselfindicated that Trump is under investigation for allegations of removal or destruction of records, obstruction of justice, and possible violation of a provision of the Espionage Act related to the collection, transmission, or loss of defense information.
Prior to the discovery of the batch of about 100 sensitive records, the National Archives recovered 15 boxes containing presidential records from Mar-a-Lago in January 2022. These boxes included 184 hashtag documents, totaling more than 700 pages.
The National Archives first attempted to recover what it considered sensitive government records before referring the matter to the Justice Department, and Trump’s attorneys initially reported that they had lost correspondence between Trump and both North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former President Barack. Obama. It is not clear if these missing items have been recovered in any of the searches and collections.
Trump’s representatives also turned over to Justice Department investigators in early June 2022 a file containing 38 records marked classified after receiving a subpoena for “any and all” hashtag documents that were in Trump’s possession at Mar-a-Lago.
In all, federal investigators recovered nearly 300 documents marked classified from South Florida property after Trump left office. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said at the time her office was conducting a damage assessment to determine what, if any, national damage was done to keep records.
Ministry of Justice investigation
The FBI’s search for Mar-a-Lago sparked a legal battle Trump has waged against the Justice Department over investigators’ access to material seized from his estate, and the former president Special master requestor an independent third party, to review documents.
This disagreement Limited Department of Justice investigation for several months after a A special master is named Federal prosecutors only sought access to the nearly 100 hashtag documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago. Court fighting before the Supreme Court, which fell in October Refuse to intervene in dispute. Federal appeals court I ordered to finish for the Special Masters Review Process in December.
The legal action opened up a normally secret investigative process to the public, allowing prosecutors to detail the evidence they had gathered in overt court files.
As part of the investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of sensitive government records, a federal grand jury heard testimony from several people close to the former president, including his attorneys. Evan Corcoran and Timothy Parlatore. Parlator, Mn Trump’s legal team left In May, it ordered a search of the former president’s other property for government documents, which yielded a handful of additional records.
Trump’s lawyers told the Justice Department that they were unable to find a classified document related to Iran sought by the investigators, who are two people with knowledge of the situation. She confirmed to CBS News In early June. The document was discussed during a recorded meeting.
Another key witness, Trump aide and former White House butler Walt Nauta, he told investigators Last year, he moved boxes within Mar-a-Lago at Trump’s direction before and after the subpoena was issued to turn over all documents with hashtags.
Multiple sources close to the investigation told CBS News that prosecutors focused on Naota’s interactions with the funds, but that talks between his legal team and the Justice Department stalled after prosecutors took a more aggressive approach.
Several former and current U.S. Secret Service officials, including security officials from the Mar-a-Lago resort, also answered questions before the grand jury.
The wide range of people investigators in Smith’s office have called to testify include several Trump aides and allies, current and former Mar-a-Lago employees and White House staffers and attorneys. Several grand juries convened in a federal courtroom in Washington have accumulated evidence for months about the structure of Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s move out of the White House, and conversations with his attorney, Corcoran, that a federal judge deemed not covered by attorney-client privilege. .
Amidst a Department of Justice investigation into the records found at Mar-a-Lago, it was revealed that the documents bearing the hashtags has been found At former President Joe Biden’s office and home in Wilmington, Delaware.
Records go back to Mr. Biden’s tenure as vice president and in the Senate, and at Garland Hire a private attorneyRobert Hoare to supervise an investigation into the handling of documents. The number of documents discovered in Mr. Biden’s possession is much lower than those found from Mar-a-Lago: The total number of known classified documents found since November ranges between 25 and 30. In addition, the president’s attorneys, who found materials, immediately notify the Department of Archives and Justice of their discovery.
Mr. Biden too agreed to Searches Homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
A “small number” of documents are also marked as classified Discover in Indiana home Former Vice President Mike Pence in January turned him over to the FBI. The Justice Department investigated and spoke with several aides as part of its investigation, as well as with Pence. Administrators Close the investigation without criminal charges.
– Graham Keats, Finn Gomez, Pat Melton and Jeff Bigges contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
