Donald Trump professes he is an ‘innocent man’ as he is indicted on seven charges in classified documents investigation
9 June 2023, 01:04 | Updated: 9 June 2023, 06:46
Former US president Donald Trump has been indicted on seven charges related to the mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Mr Trump has become the first former US president to face federal charges, which include obstruction and a violation of the Espionage Act relating to his supposed illegal retention of national defence information at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
The former president posted on his social media platform that he has been summoned to federal court in Miami next Tuesday.
In a video posted shortly after the announcement, he slammed the "corrupt Biden Administration", accusing them of election interference.
The indictment comes as Mr Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, made an agreement to plead guilty to several federal charges.
Mr Trump will have a mug shot and fingerprints taken when he attends court, NBC reported, but the photograph will not be made public.
Listen and subscribe to Unprecedented: Inside Downing Street on Global Player
Posting on his social media, Truth Social, he said: “The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax.
"I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States."
It comes after Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate was investigated by the FBI in a raid last August related to an investigation into whether he took classified documents from the White House.
The Justice Department searched his property in Florida and seized 11,000 documents.
Some 100 of these documents were marked as “classified” while others were marked as “top secret” – the removal and holding of such documents at an unauthorised location is illegal.
The details of the documents remain unclear, but it is believed they could be damaging to national security if leaked.
Read more: Rishi Sunak blames pandemic and Ukraine war for not striking US trade deal
Mr Trump added in an online post: “This is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!”
It comes after he was charged earlier this year in April on 34 felony counts, making history as the first former president to be charged with a crime.
Reports suggest that more details about the charges against Mr Trump will be revealed when he faces federal court next Tuesday.
But it may take longer before these details are shared with the public, and the evidence used against the former president may not be revealed at all.
The indictment is another hit against Mr Trump's presidential campaign, as he is in the running to be the Republican Party's candidate for president in the 2024 election campaign.
