A federal judge in Florida unsealed an indictment that accuses former President Donald Trump of hiding classified national security documents after he left the White House, improperly storing them and sharing sensitive information with people who lacked security clearance.
Though he’s not the only former federal official to improperly take classified documents with him after leaving office, federal prosecutors allege Trump did so on purpose and went to great lengths to conceal his possession of them.
It’s the second indictment this year for the former president, who is also facing state business records fraud charges in New York.
Trump is running for the Republican nomination for president.
News of the indictment, which Trump delivered himself on social media Thursday evening, sparked divided reactions among members of Congress and Trump’s fellow contenders for the GOP nomination.
Why was Trump indicted?
According to a 37-count indictment, Trump brought boxes of classified documents with him from Washington to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, when he left office.
When pressed by the National Archives and Records Administration — and, later, by the Florida federal grand jury — he did not return all the documents with classified material.
Many documents were marked top secret and contained highly sensitive information about U.S. and foreign military capabilities. Trump knew the materials were classified and went to great lengths to conceal his possession of them, even after the grand jury subpoenaed them, according to the indictment.
The FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and residence in South Florida in August 2022 and discovered classified material Trump had failed to turn over.
What did Trump say about the indictment?
In written statements and a video posted to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday, Trump called himself “an innocent man” and painted himself as the victim of political attacks.
Trump also noted his successor, President Joe Biden, had also improperly stored classified material after Biden’s tenure as vice president.
You can read the full article at the Iowa Capital Dispatch.