Donald Trump Indicted In Classified Documents Probe

Former US President, Donald Trump said he has been indicted over his handling of classified documents after leaving office.

Gatekeepers News reports that the US ex-president announced this on his Truth Social platform.

Trump wrote, “The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax.”

This being the first time a sitting or former commander-in-chief has faced federal charges is the most serious legal threat yet as he pursues a second White House term.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Justice Department.

His Attorney, Jim Trusty told CNN that his client has been indicted on seven charges including the willful retention of documents in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements, obstruction of justice and a count of conspiracy.

Although the precise details of the charges were not immediately clear, people familiar with the matter told The New York Times the conspiracy charge was related to obstruction of justice.

Trump in his post, said he has been summoned to a federal courthouse in Miami next Tuesday — the day before his 77th birthday.

His announcement came a day after US media said federal prosecutors had informed his lawyers that he is the target of the probe into his handling of classified documents.

He was already the first former or sitting president to be charged with a crime — in his case over election-eve hush money payments to a porn star who said she had an affair with him.

That indictment was handed down by Manhattan’s district attorney in March.

After his initial online posts, the Trump campaign in a statement, lashed out at what it called an “unprecedented abuse of power,” and called for the indictment to be thrown out.

In a defiant video released after he shared the news, the former US President repeatedly declared his innocence and framed the indictment as a form of election interference by a Justice Department “weaponized” by the Biden administration.

Trump said in the clip, “They come after me because now we’re leading in the polls again by a lot against Biden.

“Our country is going to hell and they come after Donald Trump… We can’t let this continue.”

Fellow Republicans swiftly stood by him, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, who has had a rollercoaster relationship with Trump.

McCarthy said in a statement, “Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. It is unconscionable for a President to indict the leading candidate opposing him.

“I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a rival for the GOP presidential nomination, echoed Trump’s claims of a “weaponized” DOJ, adding on Twitter that he would “excise political bias” if elected president.

The Twitter account of Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee posted a repeated Trump slogan: “WITCH HUNT.”

Special counsel Jack Smith, named by US Attorney General Merrick Garland, has been looking into a cache of classified documents that Trump had stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after leaving the White House.

The FBI carted away some 11,000 papers after serving a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago in August, and obstruction-of-justice charges could be a result of his resisting efforts to recover the trove.

Trump eventually turned over 15 boxes containing almost 200 classified documents to the National Archives in January 2022 but was subpoenaed for any outstanding records in his possession.

Smith’s spokesman Peter Carr when asked about the charges on Thursday night, told AFP,“We are declining to comment.”

The latest indictment comes with Trump facing numerous other probes as he bids to be the Republican nominee to challenge Joe Biden for the presidency in 2024.