WASHINGTON — Donald Trump and one of his Mar-a-Lago employees, personal valet Walt Nauta, have been charged with dozens of counts of allegedly violating eight federal statutes related to the handling of classified documents after the former president has left the White House, according to the 44-page indictment that was unsealed on Friday.
Broadly speaking, Trump was accused of suggesting his lawyer falsely tell the FBI and the grand jury that he had no classified documents and of ordering Nauta to move boxes of documents for them. hide from the lawyer, the FBI and the grand jury.
He is accused not only of storing and hiding the documents, but of showing them to guests at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He said one document described a “plan of attack” and another contained a map of a military installation, according to the indictment. He reportedly admitted knowing the documents were classified, saying “it’s still a secret,” according to the indictment.
“We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone,” said Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who led the investigation. “Enforcing these laws, collecting facts, that’s what determines the outcome of an investigation.”
Trump faces 31 counts of withholding national defense information under the Espionage Act. The documents have been described as some of the most important secrets in the country, including “top secret”, requiring special treatment, the author determines who receives the documents and not to release them to foreign nationals, according to the act of charge.
Trump and Nauta each face one count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation, concealing a document in a federal investigation and attempted cover-up.
Trump is also charged with one count of misrepresentation and misrepresentation for allegedly causing his attorney to certify that all classified documents were turned over to federal authorities on June 3. conforming documents accompany this certification.”
Trump maintained his innocence. His first appearance in federal court is scheduled for Tuesday at 3 p.m. in Miami.
Here’s what’s in the indictment:
Indictment outlines Trump’s efforts to obstruct justice
The indictment also reveals how Trump allegedly obstructed justice by failing to cooperate with — and outright lying — to investigators trying to retrieve the documents.
“Trump worked to obstruct FBI and grand jury investigations and to conceal his continued retention of classified documents, among other things: by suggesting that his attorney falsely state to the FBI and grand jury that Trump did not have the documents requested by the grand jury subpoena,” the indictment states.
Trump also ordered Nauta to move boxes of documents to conceal them from Trump’s attorney, the FBI and the grand jury, according to the indictment. Nauta, a former Navy veteran, decamped to Mar-a-Lago with Trump when he left the White House.
Trump also engaged in the obstruction by suggesting that his lawyer hide or destroy the documents requested by the grand jury subpoena, and by providing the FBI and the grand jury with only some of the documents requested by the grand jury subpoena. , while claiming that he was cooperating fully.
“Due to Trump’s retention of classified documents after his presidency and refusal to return them, hundreds of classified documents were not recovered by the U.S. government until 2022,” the indictment states.
The indictment describes the three times federal authorities recovered classified documents from Mar-a-Lago:
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On January 17, 2022, nearly a year after Trump left office, and after months of requests from the National Archives and Records Administration for him to provide all of the missing presidential records, he provided only 15 boxes, which contained 197 documents with classification marks.
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On June 3, 2022, in response to a grand jury subpoena demanding the production of all documents with classification marks, Trump’s attorney provided another 38 documents with classification marks to the FBI.
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On August 8, 2022, during a court-authorized search warrant, the FBI recovered another 102 documents with classified marks from Trump’s office and storage room at Mar-a-Lago.
Show classified documents to others
The indictment alleges that Trump showed classified documents to others twice, first in July 2021 at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and then again in August or September.
In the first case, Trump showed and described a “plan of attack” which he said had been prepared for him by the Department of Defense and a senior military official in a recorded meeting with a writer, an editor and two members of its staff. None of them had security clearances, according to the indictment.
Trump told those unidentified individuals that the plan was “highly confidential” and “secret,” according to the indictment, and that “as president, I could have declassified it” and “Now I don’t can’t, you know, but it’s still a secret.”
In August or September 2021, at the Bedminster Club, Trump showed a representative of his political action committee — who also did not have a security clearance — a classified card linked to a military operation, according to the deed. ‘charge. Trump also told Rep that “he shouldn’t show it to Rep and Rep shouldn’t get too close,” according to the indictment.
Trump kept wide range of classified documents: indictment
After his presidency, Trump was not permitted to possess or retain classified documents, according to the indictment.
Former presidents can obtain a waiver of the “need to know” requirement if authorized by senior officials of the organizations from which the documents originated. “Trump did not obtain such a waiver after his presidency,” the indictment states.
After his presidency, Trump kept documents from the CIA, the Department of Defense and the super-secret National Security Agency, which is responsible for collecting, processing and disseminating some of the top secret intelligence gathered. by the United States, mainly by listening. American adversaries.
Trump also had in his possession documents from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the Department of Energy, and the State Department and its Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
What did Trump say about the investigation?
Trump proclaimed his innocence of the criminal charges in a video, statements and on social media.
“The corrupt Biden administration has notified my attorneys that I have been charged,” Trump said in a statement Thursday. “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”
Trump has repeatedly maintained that he can take documents with him after he leaves the White House, despite the Presidential Records Act giving ownership to the National Archives and Records Administration, and that he declassified them, despite the lack of documentation for his assertion.
“I have the absolute right to do whatever I want with them,” Trump said at a recent CNN town hall.
Contributor: Miles J. Herszenhorn
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump Indictment Unsealed: Details of Ex-President’s Charges