San Francisco, June 6 (ZXS) -- According to an indictment released by the US Department of Justice on 9 June local time, former President Trump of the country has been charged with 9 federal charges for mishandling classified documents.
On the 8th, a federal grand jury charged Trump in Miami, Florida, for improper handling of classified documents. On the 9th, the U.S. Department of Justice released a 44-page indictment, accusing Trump of 31 counts of intentionally retaining defense information, as well as conspiracy to obstruct justice, withhold documents or records, corruptly conceal documents or records, hide documents in federal investigations, conceal plans, misrepresentation and representation. The indictment also reveals extensive details of the case.
The indictment alleges that after Trump left the presidency, Mar-a-Lago "was not an authorized place to store, possess, review, display or discuss classified documents." However, he stored boxes containing confidential documents at various locations at the Mar-a-Lago Club. Some of the photos disclosed in the indictment show a large number of filing boxes stacked in Mar-a-Lago ballrooms, showers and bathrooms, with some documents scattered on the floor. In the more than a year since Trump left the White House, "tens of thousands of members and guests" have patronized Mar-a-Lago Club. The indictment alleges that Trump twice in 2021 showed classified documents to people without security clearances and told each other that they were seeing classified documents.
The Justice Department also charged in the indictment that the former president tried to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and concealed his retention of classified documents. Trump has advised his lawyers to hide, destroy or lie to investigators that they are not available. Trump had also instructed his lawyers to sign an "affidavit" certifying that all classified documents had been handed over to the FBI, but at the time Trump knew there were more classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
According to the indictment, Trump aide Walter Notta was also sued. Trump had instructed Nota to move multiple boxes of documents so that they could not be discovered by Trump's lawyers, the FBI and grand juries. A source told CBS that surveillance cameras at Mar-a-Lago captured footage of Nota carrying a file box. In addition, the Justice Department accused Nota of knowingly making grossly false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements in the context of a federal criminal investigation conducted by the FBI. (End)