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[[Andrew C. McCarthy]] wrote in ''National Review'' that earlier failures to prosecute Hillary Clinton did not mean that Trump is "owed a pass": "I don't believe that Trump's lawyers, who were trying to help him, would testify — as they have very reluctantly testified — that he tried to get them to destroy evidence and obstruct justice, unless he really did try to get them to destroy evidence and obstruct justice."<ref name="2023Docs">{{cite web |last1=McCarthy |first1=Andrew C. |title=Why Trump's 'Witch Hunt' Cries Ring Hollow in Face of DOJ Indictment |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/06/why-trumps-witch-hunt-cries-ring-hollow-in-face-of-doj-indictment/ |website=[[National Review]] |access-date=June 11, 2023 |date=June 10, 2023 }}</ref>
[[Andrew C. McCarthy]] wrote in ''National Review'' that earlier failures to prosecute Hillary Clinton did not mean that Trump is "owed a pass": "I don't believe that Trump's lawyers, who were trying to help him, would testify — as they have very reluctantly testified — that he tried to get them to destroy evidence and obstruct justice, unless he really did try to get them to destroy evidence and obstruct justice."<ref name="2023Docs">{{cite web |last1=McCarthy |first1=Andrew C. |title=Why Trump's 'Witch Hunt' Cries Ring Hollow in Face of DOJ Indictment |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/06/why-trumps-witch-hunt-cries-ring-hollow-in-face-of-doj-indictment/ |website=[[National Review]] |access-date=June 11, 2023 |date=June 10, 2023 }}</ref>

Amid online threats of a violent response to the indictment, [[Kari Lake]] told an audience of Georgia Republicans that the indictment was illegitimate and "We’re at war, people — we’re at war," adding "If you want to get to President Trump, you’re going to have to go through me, and 75 million Americans just like me. And most of us are card-carrying members of the [[National Rifle Association|NRA]]. That’s not a threat, that’s a public service announcement."<ref>{{cite news |title=Trump’s Miami court date brings fears of violence, rally plans |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/11/trump-miami-courthouse-security-protests/ |work=The Washington Post |date=June 11, 2023|author1=Shayna Jacobs|author2=David Nakamura|author3=Hannah Allam|author3=Isaac Arnsdorf}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Dixon |first1=Matt |title=Trump delivers fiery post-indictment speech: ‘They’re coming after you’ |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/10/trump-set-to-deliver-fiery-post-indictment-speech-theyre-coming-after-you.html |publisher=CNBC |date=June 11, 2023}}</ref>


===Congressional Democrats===
===Congressional Democrats===

Revision as of 05:13, 12 June 2023

This article is about the criminal prosecution of the mishandling of government documents. For the civil lawsuit, see Trump v. United States. For the state prosecution, see Prosecution of Donald Trump in New York.

United States v. Trump
CourtUnited States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Full case nameUnited States of America v. Donald J. Trump and Waltine Nauta[1]
Docket nos.9:23-cr-80101-AMC[1]
Charge37 against Trump and 6 against Nauta.
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting
This article is part of
a series about
Donald Trump
Business and personal
45th President of the United States
Tenure
Policies
Appointments
Presidential campaigns
Impeachments
Prosecutions
Interactions involving Russia
COVID-19 pandemic

Donald Trump's signature

Seal of the President of the United States
Donald Trump's handling
of government documents
Classified intelligence material found during the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago
Criminal laws and handling of government documents
Related groups and persons
Investigations
Events
Reactions

United States v. Donald J. Trump, et al. is a pending federal criminal case against Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, and his personal aide and valet, Walt Nauta.[2][3] The grand jury indictment, with 37 felony counts against Trump related to his mishandling of government documents after his presidency, was filed on June 8, 2023, in the federal district court in Miami, by the office of the Smith special counsel investigation.[4][5][6][7] Thirty-one of the counts fall under the Espionage Act.[8] The case marks the first federal indictment of a former U.S. president.[9]

Background

See also: FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of government documents, Smith special counsel investigation, and FBI search of Mar-a-Lago

Under the Presidential Records Act, presidential documents must be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) by the end of a president's term. Trump's term ended in January 2021. In May 2021, NARA became aware of missing documents from the Trump Administration and began an effort to retrieve documents improperly taken to Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago and The Bedminster Club.[10] Later, the FBI obtained evidence that Trump was personally involved in causing the documents to be taken.[1]

Storage room with document boxes at Mar-a-Lago

After repeatedly demanding the return of documents from Trump's team and warning them of a possible referral to the Justice Department, NARA retrieved 15 boxes of documents in January 2022.[1] NARA discovered that the boxes contained classified material, and notified the Justice Department on February 9, 2022. This led the FBI to launch an investigation into Trump's handling of government documents on March 30, 2022.[11] In May 2022, a grand jury issued a subpoena for any remaining documents in Trump's possession, and Trump certified that he was returning all the remaining documents on June 3, 2022. The FBI then obtained evidence that Trump had not fulfilled the subpoena and still possessed additional documents and that he had intentionally moved documents to hide them from his lawyers and the FBI after the subpoena was issued.[12][1]

This led to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022, in which the FBI recovered over 13,000 government documents, 325 of which were classified, with some relating to national defense secrets covered under the Espionage Act.[12] The civil lawsuit Trump v. United States arose from the search, which briefly led to the appointment of a special master to review seized materials before the appointment was overturned.[13][14]

In November 2022, the FBI investigation was taken over by a special counsel investigation, under the direction of Jack Smith who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.[15] A second civil case allowed the Smith investigation to make use of the crime-fraud exception to attorney–client privilege to access certain evidence in the case.[16]

Proceedings

Indictment

The grand jury handed up the indictment under seal on June 8, 2023. Its 37 counts against Trump and 6 against Walt Nauta include willfully retaining national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy.[4][6]

Trump (37 counts):[1]

  • 31 counts of retaining and failing to deliver national defense documents under the Espionage Act.
Each of these charges is a separate document. According to the indictment, they include documentation of U.S. nuclear weapons; foreign military attacks, plans, capabilities, and effects on U.S. interests; foreign nuclear capabilities; foreign support for terrorist activity; communications with foreign leaders, attacks by foreign countries; U.S. military activities; and White House daily foreign intelligence briefings.
  • 5 counts relating to withholding and concealing the documents, one of which is a conspiracy charge.[17]
  • 1 count of making false statements.

Nauta (6 counts):[1]

  • 5 counts relating to withholding and concealing the documents, one of which is a conspiracy charge.[17]
  • 1 count of making false statements.

The indictment alleged that the classified documents Trump retained included information about defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries, United States nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack, and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.[18]

The indictment included photographs showing boxes containing classified information in "a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom and a storage room" at Trump's Florida home.[19] It included transcripts of an audio recording it says are of Trump showing a classified U.S. military attack plan (the name of the target country is redacted) to a book publisher, writer, and two staff members in July 2021, while saying he was unable to declassify the document. News reports said the target country was Iran, and Trump was showing it in the context of complaining that General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had unfairly portrayed him to the media.[20] It also alleged that in fall 2021, Trump showed a classified military map to a representative of his political action committee who did not have a security clearance, and that he acted to keep classified documents he knew he could not be in possession of because they had been subpoenaed.[3]

Arraignment

The arraignment is scheduled for June 13.[2][4] Trump attorneys Jim Trusty [wd] and John Rowley [wd] resigned on the day after the indictment. Trump said he would be represented by Todd Blanche, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Manhattan federal prosecutor's office who is also representing Trump in his prosecution by the Manhattan district attorney.[21]

Federal judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump in 2020, was randomly assigned to preside over the case. Cannon previously made rulings favorable to Trump in 2022, issuing unprecedented rulings that temporarily stymied the FBI and special counsel investigations in 2022. The rulings were criticized by legal scholars, and a panel of the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit unanimously overruled them, writing, "We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so."[22][23][24]

Response to indictment

Republicans

After the indictment, Trump and his allies within the Republican Party escalated attacks on the FBI, Justice Department, and federal prosecutors, whom Trump denounced in a speech to the Georgia Republican Party as "cowards", "fascists and thugs", and "sinister forces".[25] Many congressional Republicans responded to the indictment by asserting, without evidence, that Trump was being targeted for political purposes by a Justice Department "weaponized" by President Joe Biden,[26][27] although an independent special counsel oversaw the investigation and a grand jury made the charging decision.[28] The Republicans' claims largely echoed their reactions to Trump's first indictment, several months earlier in New York state court.[29] Trump himself made such claims both before[30] and after his federal indictment.[3] Trump allies who rallied around the ex-president after the indictment included the House Republican leadership (Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik), as well as Senator J. D. Vance.[27]

Trump allies engaged in violent rhetoric after the attack, depicting the indictment as an "act of war" and calling for retribution; among others, Republican congressman Andy Biggs, Trump-endorsed House candidate Joe Kent, and former Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, made allusions to use of violence in their attacks on the federal indictment.[31] Experts on political violence expressed alarm because normalization of violent rhetoric often precedes real-life violence; similar rhetoric from Trump supporters, after the FBI conducted a search of Mar-a-Lago, preceded an attack on the FBI's field office in Cincinnati.[31]

After the indictment, most of Trump's rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, including Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, and Mike Pence, defended Trump or echoed his rhetoric denouncing federal prosecutors and law enforcement.[32][33][34] Vivek Ramaswamy, a hard-line candidate running low in the polls, said that if elected, he would pardon Trump.[32][33] Breaking from the majority of the field, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, a long-shot contender for the party's nomination, said that Trump should drop out of the presidential race.[32][33][35] Another Republican candidate, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, said that the facts set forth in the indictment were "damning in terms of Donald Trump's conduct," noting the witness accounts, text recordings, emails, and text messages, and asked, "is this the type of conduct that we want from someone who wants to be president of the United States?"[36][37]

Most members of the Senate Republican leadership team, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Whip John Thune, stayed silent on the indictment.[27] Senator Mitt Romney of Utah said in a statement that Trump "brought these charges upon himself ... by refusing to simply return them when given numerous opportunities to do so."[38] Former U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican critic of Trump, wrote, "Today, Justice is being served. Nobody is above the law. The former President will get a fair trial. The former President will be held accountable."[39]

Trump's former Attorney General, William Barr, said that it was ridiculous to present Trump as the victim of a witch hunt: "It's a very detailed indictment. And it's very, very damning...He's not a victim here."[40]

John Dean said that "Biden so far has been 'very, very savvy' by distancing himself from the investigation."[41]

Andrew C. McCarthy wrote in National Review that earlier failures to prosecute Hillary Clinton did not mean that Trump is "owed a pass": "I don't believe that Trump's lawyers, who were trying to help him, would testify — as they have very reluctantly testified — that he tried to get them to destroy evidence and obstruct justice, unless he really did try to get them to destroy evidence and obstruct justice."[42]

Amid online threats of a violent response to the indictment, Kari Lake told an audience of Georgia Republicans that the indictment was illegitimate and "We’re at war, people — we’re at war," adding "If you want to get to President Trump, you’re going to have to go through me, and 75 million Americans just like me. And most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA. That’s not a threat, that’s a public service announcement."[43][44]

Congressional Democrats

The top Democratic leadership in Congress—Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries—released a statement urging both critics and supporters of Trump to let the case "proceed peacefully".[45]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Savage, Charlie (June 9, 2023). "The Trump Classified Documents Indictment, Annotated". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Fisher, Joe; Schrader, Adam (June 8, 2023). "Donald Trump charged in handling of classified documents". United Press International. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Lowell, Hugo; Chao-Fong, Léonie (June 9, 2023). "Indictment charging Trump with mishandling classified documents unsealed". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Barrett, Devlin; Stein, Perry; Dawsey, Josh (June 8, 2023). "Trump indicted in Mar-a-Lago classified documents investigation". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  5. ^ Feuer, Alan; Haberman, Maggie; Rashbaum, William K.; Protess, Ben (June 9, 2023). "Justice Department Charges Trump in Documents Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Faulders, Katherine (June 8, 2023). "Donald Trump indicted for 2nd time, in classified documents investigation". ABC News. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  7. ^ Druker, Simon (June 9, 2023). "37 charges against Donald Trump include retention of intel, obstruction of justice". United Press International. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  8. ^ Cheney, Kyle; Gerstein, Josh (June 9, 2023). "Trump indictment unsealed". Politico. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  9. ^ Baker, Peter (June 10, 2023). "Trump's Case Puts the Justice System on Trial, in a Test of Public Credibility". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 11, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  10. ^ Broadwater, Luke; Benner, Katie; Haberman, Maggie (August 27, 2022). "Inside the 20-Month Drive to Get Trump to Return Presidential Material". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  11. ^ Montague, Zach; McCarthy, Lauren (August 9, 2022). "The Timeline Related to the F.B.I.'s Search of Mar-a-Lago". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  12. ^ a b Smart, Charlie; Buchanan, Larry (September 3, 2022). "What the F.B.I. Seized From Mar-a-Lago, Illustrated". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 5, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  13. ^ Sneed, Tierney (December 1, 2022). "Appeals court halts special master review of documents seized at Mar-a-Lago in major defeat for Trump". CNN. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  14. ^ Feuer, Alan; Savage, Charlie (December 1, 2022). "Appeals Court Scraps Special Master Review in Trump Documents Case". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  15. ^ Thrush, Glenn; Savage, Charlie; Haberman, Maggie; Feuer, Alan (November 18, 2022). "Special Counsel for Trump Investigations: Garland Names Special Counsel for Trump Inquiries". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  16. ^ Feuer, Alan; Protess, Ben; Haberman, Maggie (March 22, 2023). "Appeals Court Orders Trump Lawyer to Hand Over Records in Documents Inquiry". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  17. ^ a b Sarah N. Lynch; Jonathan Stempel (June 10, 2023). "Trump risked national secrets, prosecutors allege in indictment". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  18. ^ Santucci, John; Pereira, Ivan (June 9, 2023). "Sweeping 37-count indictment alleges Trump hoarded national secrets, orchestrated obstruction of investigation". ABC News. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  19. ^ Price, Michelle L. (June 9, 2023). "Key moments in Trump indictment: Flaunting classified material, stowing boxes in Mar-a-Lago bathroom". AP News. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  20. ^ Reid, Paula; Herb, Jeremy (June 9, 2023). "Exclusive: Donald Trump admits on tape he didn't declassify 'secret information'". CNN. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  21. ^ Mangan, Dan; Breuninger, Kevin (June 9, 2023). "Trump lawyers quit classified documents case". CNBC. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  22. ^ Meg Kinnard; Curt Anderson; Eric Tucker (June 9, 2023). "Trump case assigned to judge who faced criticism over her ruling in his favor in Mar-a-Lago search". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 11, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  23. ^ "The judge assigned to oversee Trump's criminal case was appointed by Trump himself". NPR. June 9, 2023. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  24. ^ Savage, Charlie (June 10, 2023). "Trump Appointee Will Remain Judge in Documents Case, Clerk Says". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 11, 2023. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  25. ^ Arnsdorf, Isaac; Knowles, Hannah (June 10, 2023). "Trump stares down criminal jeopardy with bluffs and bluster". Washington Post. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  26. ^ Alfaro, Mariana (June 8, 2023). "Biden says Americans can trust Justice Department as it investigates Trump". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  27. ^ a b c Wong, Scott (June 9, 2023). "Trump allies say Biden is 'weaponizing' DOJ against his chief 2024 rival following indictment". NBC News. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  28. ^ Weiss, Benjamin S. (June 10, 2023). "As Trump faces historic indictment, experts pour cold water on GOP claims of government 'weaponization'". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  29. ^ Lewis, Kaitlin (June 8, 2023). "MAGA Republicans react to Trump's classified documents indictment". Newsweek. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  30. ^ Schmidt, Michael S.; Haberman, Maggie (March 29, 2023). "Trump Says the Justice System Has Been Weaponized. He Would Know". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  31. ^ a b Schmidt, Michael S.; Feuer, Alan; Haberman, Maggie; Goldman, Adam (June 10, 2023). "Trump Supporters' Violent Rhetoric in His Defense Disturbs Experts". The New York Times.
  32. ^ a b c Goldmacher, Shane (June 9, 2023). "For G.O.P. Rivals, an Unhappy Task: Defend the Man Dominating Them in the Polls". The New York Times.
  33. ^ a b c Layne, Nathan (June 9, 2023). "2024 Republican hopefuls rebuke Justice Department, not Trump after indictment". Reuters. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  34. ^ Jackson, David (June 10, 2023). "'Explain:' Mike Pence calls on Merrick Garland to justify indictment of Donald Trump". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  35. ^ Sforza, Lauren (June 8, 2023). "Hutchinson: Trump should 'step aside'". The Hill. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  36. ^ Ewing, Giselle Ruhiyyih (June 10, 2023). "Christie: '24 voters should focus on Trump's conduct, facts of the case". Politico.
  37. ^ Gans, Jared (June 10, 2023). "Christie: Details of Trump indictment 'devastating'". The Hill.
  38. ^ "Romney Statement on Reports of Indictment". Romney.senate.gov (Press release). June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  39. ^ Swearingen, Jake; Teh, Cheryl; Berman, Taylor (June 9, 2023). "'Nobody is above the law': The world reacts to Trump being indicted for the second time". Business Insider. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  40. ^ Sforza, Lauren (June 11, 2023). "Barr: Presenting Trump as victim after indictment is 'ridiculous'". The Hill. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  41. ^ Viser, Matt (June 10, 2023). "Trump indictment thrusts Biden into unprecedented territory". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  42. ^ McCarthy, Andrew C. (June 10, 2023). "Why Trump's 'Witch Hunt' Cries Ring Hollow in Face of DOJ Indictment". National Review. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  43. ^ Shayna Jacobs; David Nakamura; Isaac Arnsdorf (June 11, 2023). "Trump's Miami court date brings fears of violence, rally plans". The Washington Post.
  44. ^ Dixon, Matt (June 11, 2023). "Trump delivers fiery post-indictment speech: 'They're coming after you'". CNBC.
  45. ^ Singh, Kanishka (June 9, 2023). "Top US congressional Democrats urge to let Trump indictment case 'proceed peacefully'". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Federal_prosecution_of_Donald_Trump_(classified_documents_case)&oldid=1159728381"