Former President Donald Trump has been indicted for a second time on federal charges in relation to his handling of classified information, while news from ABC confirms that familiar sources in his office are out.
The former president is facing at least seven charges, according to sources at ABC News, which include conspiracy to obstruct justice, willful retention of national defense information, and concealing or withholding a corruptly concealed record or document in a federal investigation scheme to misrepresent and make false statements.
Although Trump should be convicted, the eventual sentence for him would likely be much lower, ranging from five to twenty years, as per the maximum sentences prescribed by their respective statutes.
Trump is scheduled to be charged in federal court in Miami on Tuesday at 3 p.M. ET, sources stated.
On Thursday, Trump wrote a statement on social media insisting that the indictment had been told a case of a “hoax.”
He has consistently denied any misconduct.
Trump claimed that he is “not guilty” and it was a “troubling day” for the U.S.
Trump is also claimed to be innocent. I am innocent in the video posted on Social Truth. We will quickly and convincingly prove that. Thank you very much.
Representatives for the Department of Justice and special counsel Jack Smith’s office declined to provide a comment on Trump’s statement.
The current front-runner for the Republican Party’s nomination for the White House in 2024, who is facing a criminal case in New York City and denying the charges, potentially has significant implications both domestically and globally. This underlines the consequential nature of the prosecutions, which further highlight the unprecedented federal indictment of a former president.
According to experts, the current government of the United States, which prosecutes the former leader of the opposition party and is a leading candidate, could be seen as a test of the nation’s democratic system, as it goes far beyond the usual norms and stretches the merits of the case in a manner that is unprecedented.
Former President Donald Trump greets supporters at a Team Trump volunteer leadership training event held at the Grimes Community Complex on June 1, 2023, in Grimes, Iowa.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
The federal probe that investigated Trump’s handling of classified documents and was overseen by Merrick Garland, who was tapped by Attorney General Smith, ended in November when Garland’s presidency came to a close.
Smith is also supervising the inquiry into Trump’s attempts to invalidate the 2020 election outcomes.
In the response to a grand jury subpoena, former President Trump’s lawyers represented whether he had falsely certified to the government that all classified records, which he might have unlawfully retained, had been returned. The lawyers’ efforts in concealing records and the probe into Smith’s Central are related to classified documents.
The ABC News previously reported that prosecutors in the special counsel’s office have presented compelling preliminary evidence indicating that Trump knowingly and deliberately misled his own attorneys about the retention of classified material after leaving office early in 2021, as described by sources who are familiar with the contents from a top federal judge’s sealed filing.
In early 2022, sources informed ABC News that officials from the National Archives requested the Justice Department to examine Trump’s management of White House documents. This request was made after the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of records from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in January. These records were taken in violation of the Presidential Records Act.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2023, March 4, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md.
Alex Brandon/AP, FILE
The DOJ probe hit a critical point on Aug. 8, 2022, when Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida was searched by FBI agents.
There were 43 empty banners alone, classified with seized folders, from Trump’s office. According to an unsealed inventory list, investigators from the Federal search seized more than 100 documents with detailed markings classified.
The U.S. Government collected over 11,000 items of property without any markings, classification, photographs, or documents, which also included a list of the inventory of the property gathered by agents.
Since August, the legal team of Trump believes that the government could still possess additional information and classified documents, which they have received through subpoenas and found during their search.
The former president, who pleaded not guilty in April to unrelated criminal charges, said he will remain in the presidential race for 2024 despite any indictments or race-related controversies. He made hush money payments in connection with business records that he falsified before the 2016 election.
It should be stated that Trump is currently being investigated, alongside Smith’s inquiries, for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
This report was contributed to by John Santucci and Alexander Mallin from ABC News.