2023-06-09 19:48:00
That emerges from the indictment once morest the Republican, which was published on Friday. According to this, Trump kept documents on US nuclear weapons and military activities of other countries in his private estate Mar-a-Lago following the end of his term in the White House.
A total of seven categories of offenses are listed, he is charged with 37 crimes. Among other things, Trump is accused of intentionally storing national defense information. This point falls under the US espionage law and can be punished with up to ten years imprisonment.
The background is the affair surrounding Trump’s handling of secret government documents following he left the White House. The indictment states that some of the boxes of intelligence documents were temporarily stored in a room at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate where public events were held. A June 2020 document seized from Trump contained information on another country’s nuclear capabilities. Special Counsel Jack Smith wanted to comment on the charges at 9:00 p.m. (CEST).
Documents in hidden boxes
After the change of power, Trump had no authority to possess or keep secret government documents, the indictment states. His Mar-a-Lago property was not an approved place to store the records. Trump kept boxes of classified information in his bedroom, a bathroom, a shower, a ballroom and a storage room, among other things. Some of the boxes of intelligence documents were temporarily stored in a room where public events were held. A storage room for documents with more than 80 boxes was easily accessible via a public pool area in Mar-a-Lago.
The federal police FBI had examined Trump’s private property Mar-a-Lago in Florida in August and confiscated numerous classified documents, some with the highest classification level. Because the Republican kept the documents in his private home long following he left the presidency, he might have committed a criminal offense. After Trump officially announced in November that he would run once more in the 2024 election, the Justice Department appointed the independent special counsel Smith to outsource the politically sensitive investigation into Trump.
Now came the historical indictment. It is the first time a federal indictment has been filed once morest a former US President. Trump had already been charged at the state level in New York in April in connection with hush money payments to a porn star. In a civil proceeding a few weeks ago, he was held responsible for a sexual assault in court. So far, the allegations in connection with the documents have weighed the most heavily from a legal point of view.
The special investigator in the affair of secret government documents has promised a “speedy trial” following the indictment of former US President Donald Trump. “Note that the defendants in this case shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty in court,” Special Counsel Jack Smith said at a news conference on Friday. However, the indictment shows the “scope and gravity” of the allegations once morest Trump. Trump’s personal assistant was also charged.
“Violations put the country at risk”
Smith stressed that US intelligence and military personnel “dedicated their lives to protecting our country.” Protecting national defense information is critical to US security. “Violations of these laws put our country at risk,” Smith said.
However, other cases are being investigated once morest Trump in connection with his attempts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. So further charges might possibly follow – and they might also be dangerous for him.
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