Former President of the United States, Donald Trumpis facing 37 charges for serious crimes related to improper handling of classified documents, according to the indictment unsealed Friday by the Justice Department. This is the first official confirmation of a criminal case against Trump stemming from the withholding of documents at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
Along with Trump, he has also been accused Walt Naut, an aide to the former president who was caught on surveillance camera removing boxes from Mar-a-Lago. The complaint alleges that Trump improperly removed dozens of boxes from the White House to take them to Mar-a-Lago, many of which contained classified information.
The filing of the charges is expected before a historic court appearance next week, in the midst of the 2024 presidential campaign, which is already marked by criminal prosecutions in several states. If Trump is convicted, the charges could land him in prison.
Donald Trump (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo)
This case has huge political implications and could upend the Republican presidential primary, in which Trump was in a dominant position. In addition, it again tests the willingness of Republican voters and party leaders to back a twice-indicted candidate who could face further charges.
The upcoming trial will focus on allegations that Trump, once in charge of safeguarding the nation’s most important secrets, deliberately and illegally amassed sensitive national security information after leaving office.
This case increases the legal risk for Trump, who has already been charged in New York and faces additional investigations in Washington and Atlanta, which could also result in criminal charges. Yet among the various investigations he has faced, both legal experts and Trump’s own aides had long considered that the Mar-a-Lago investigation was the most dangerous threat and the most prone to prosecution.
Trump campaign advisers have been bracing for the fallout ever since the former president’s lawyers were told he was the target of the investigation, assuming it was not a question of if, but when.
Two Trump lawyers resigned after his indictment
James Trusty with John Rowley and another of Trump’s lawyers, Lindsey Halligan (REUTERS / Sarah Lynch)
Two lawyers representing Trump resigned on Friday. In a statement released by the US media, the lawyers Jim Trusty y John Rowley They stated: “This morning we tendered our resignation as advisers to President Trump and will no longer represent him in the case for which he has been indicted or in the January 6 investigation.”
Trump mentioned the changes in his legal team on his social network, Truth Social, without specifying that it was a resignation. “I thank Jim Trusty and John Rowley for their work. They were facing a group of very dishonest, corrupt, diabolical and sick people, the likes of which had never been seen before,” he stressed.
According to Trump, in “the greatest witch hunt of all time, which is now moving to the Florida courts,” he will be represented by Todd Blanchea lawyer who was already part of his legal team in New York, and will be joined “in the coming days” by other lawyers.
On Thursday, Trump announced that he had been indicted in the case of the classified documents he had illegally brought to his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, when he left the White House.
Trump, who is running as a candidate in the 2024 presidential elections, was indicted in March in a Manhattan (New York) court for irregular payments to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels during her 2016 campaign. This was the first criminal offense indictment filed against a former US president.
With information from AP and EFE