Donald Trump has been charged with 37 counts related to his handling of official documents brought to his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, as well as his efforts to prevent the United States government from recovering them.
An indictment unsealed by the Justice Department on Friday highlights the high-level material the former president kept after leaving office, the times he improperly shared it with those without authorization, and the extent to which he tried to block any attempt to recover it. .
The department indicates that Trump considered a number of methods to avoid returning them, and that he asked his lawyer to “hide or destroy” the documents in his possession following a subpoena in June of last year.
According to the Department, the classified documents that Trump stored in his boxes included information on defense capabilities and weapons, both of the United States and of foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.”
“Unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could jeopardize United States national security, foreign relations, the safety of United States military and human resources, and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence-gathering methods.”
Trump Officially Indicted on Federal Charges for Removing Classified White House Documents
The department details two specific times when Trump shared highly confidential materials with people at his Bedminster, New Jersey, club who did not have security clearance.
The first case was in July 2021, when he showed and described an “attack plan” prepared for him by Pentagon officials while he was in the White House. CNN reported the transcript of the audio on Friday, which included Trump acknowledging that the document was secret and that he had not declassified it while he was president.
There was a second incident in August or September 2021, in which Trump showed a representative of his political action committee, who also did not have a security clearance, a classified map related to a military operation. Trump reportedly told him during the meeting at his Bedminster, New Jersey, club that he shouldn’t show it to him and that he shouldn’t get too close.
The Department also alleges that Trump tried to obstruct FBI and Grand Jury investigations and conceal his possession of classified documents by suggesting that his attorney falsely declared to the FBI that he did not have the documents in question. Prosecutors alleged that Trump ordered Walt Nauta, an aide of his also charged in the case, to move boxes of documents to hide them.
