Getty Donald Trump was indicted, he confirmed.
Former President Donald Trump has confirmed in a post on Truth Social that he has been indicted in the investigation into classified documents.
“Page 1: The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax, even though Joe Biden has 1,850 boxes at the University of Delaware, additional Boxes in Chinatown, D.C., with even more Boxes at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents strewn all over his garage floor where he parks his Corvette, and which is ‘secured’ by only a garage door that is paper thin, and open much of the time,” Trump wrote in the June 8, 2023, post.
Trump’s former valet Walt Nauta was also indicted. You can read the full indictment against both men here.
CNN confirmed through sources that Trump has been indicted on seven counts. Special counsel Jack Smith declined to comment, according to CNN.
You can read about Smith’s politics here. Politico reported that Smith is “registered to vote in the U.S. as a political independent.” His wife is a Joe Biden donor who once created a documentary film about former First Lady Michelle Obama. You can read more about her background here.
Trump is already facing pending criminal charges in Manhattan after being accused of falsifying business documents to conceal a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Here’s what you need to know:
Donald Trump Wrote That He Has Been ‘Summoned to Appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami’
Truth Social (Donald Trump)Trump’s post on Truth Social.
In a second post, Trump wrote: “Page 2: I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 p.m. I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country, and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election. I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, “On the same day that a story broke about a whistleblower alleging Joe Biden took a 5 million dollar bribe from Burisma in Ukraine, Biden’s corrupt DOJ decides to indict Trump over BS charges. Do you really think that’s a coincidence?”
However, others applauded the indictment. “Trump’s apparent indictment on multiple charges arising from his retention of classified materials is another affirmation of the rule of law,” tweeted U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat. “For four years, he acted like he was above the law. But he should be treated like any other lawbreaker. And today, he has been.”
Twitter founder Elon Musk tweeted, “There does seem to be far higher interest in pursuing Trump compared to other people in politics. Very important that the justice system rebut what appears to be differential enforcement or they will lose public trust.”
Truth Social (Trump)Trump Truth Social post.
In November 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith as special counsel to investigate the classified documents allegations.
“Based on recent developments, including the former President’s announcement that he is a candidate for President in the next election, and the sitting President’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel,” Garland said in a statement, according to Politico. “Such an appointment underscores the Department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. It also allows prosecutors and agents to continue their work expeditiously, and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.”
Donald Trump Is Accused of the ‘Willful Retention of National Defense Information,” Reports Say
Suzanne Cordeiro/GettyFormer US President Donald Trump speaks during a 2024 election campaign rally in Waco, Texas, March 25, 2023.
“We’re learning from our sources that there appears to be at least seven counts here. This ranges from everything from the willful retention of national defense information to conspiracy to a scheme to conceal to false statements and representations,” ABC News’ Katherine Faulders reported.
According to ABC, central to Smith’s case “is determining whether lawyers who represented the former president falsely certified in response to a grand jury subpoena that Trump had returned all classified records to the government, or whether Trump himself sought to conceal records that he might have unlawfully retained.”
The probe began in 2022 when National Archives officials “asked the Justice Department to investigate Trump’s handling of White House records.” According to ABC News, the National Archives “retrieved 15 boxes of records from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that had been improperly taken in violation of the Presidential Records Act.”
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