Former US President Donald Trump has announced that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, which could result in a yearslong prison sentence. The Justice Department has not yet publicly confirmed the indictment, but two s familiar with the situation said that it includes seven criminal counts. Trump’s lawyers were contacted by prosecutors shortly before he announced the indictment on his Truth Social platform. The case adds to deepening legal jeopardy for Trump, who has already been indicted in New York and faces additional investigations in Washington and Atlanta that could lead to criminal charges.
As stated by The Hollywood Reporter, former President Donald Trump has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate. This development marks arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
While the Justice Department did not immediately confirm the indictment, two people familiar with the situation said that it included seven criminal counts. One of those people also stated that Trump’s lawyers were contacted by prosecutors shortly before he announced on his Truth Social platform that he had been indicted.
This indictment enmeshes the Justice Department in the most politically explosive prosecution in its long history. Its first case against a former president upends a Republican presidential primary that Trump is currently dominating, and any felony charges would raise the prospect of a yearslong prison sentence.
Within 20 minutes of his announcement, Trump had begun fundraising off it for his 2024 presidential campaign. He declared in a video, “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” and repeated his familiar refrain that the investigation is a “witch hunt.”
The case adds to deepening legal jeopardy for Trump, who has already been indicted in New York and faces additional investigations in Washington and Atlanta that also could lead to criminal charges. As the prosecution moves forward, it will pit Trump’s claims of sweeping executive power against Attorney General Merrick Garland’s oft-stated mantra that no person, including a former commander in chief, should be regarded as above the law.
The indictment arises from a monthslong investigation by special counsel Jack Smith into whether Trump broke the law by holding onto hundreds of documents marked classified at his Palm Beach property, Mar-a-Lago, and whether Trump took steps to obstruct the government’s efforts to recover the records.
Prosecutors have said that Trump took roughly 300 classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, including some 100 that were seized by the FBI last August in a search of the home that underscored the gravity of the Justice Department’s investigation.
Trump and his team have long seen the special counsel investigation as a politically motivated effort to undermine his presidency. They have sought to portray the investigation as an attempt to criminalize routine presidential decision-making and have accused the Justice Department of being part of a deep-state conspiracy to take down Trump.
However, this indictment is a significant development in the legal battles that Trump is facing. It is also a reminder that no one, not even a former president, is above the law. As the prosecution moves forward, it will be interesting to see how Trump and his team respond and whether this will have an impact on his political ambitions.
