The US Justice Department on June 9.6 unsealed the indictment, which includes information about a high-level document that former President Trump kept after leaving office, times he illegally shared it with people who did not. was granted access to the documents, and his efforts to thwart any attempts to retrieve the documents by the government, according to the newspaper The Hill.
According to the indictment, Trump faces 37 counts, including 31 related to the Espionage Act, in which documents he kept related to intelligence gathered about foreign countries or US military capabilities. . The law prohibits improper storage of defense information, although the documents do not have to be classified.
Containers of documents in the toilet of Mar-a-Lago resort in 2021. The image has just been released by the US Department of Justice
Violation of the Espionage Act carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, while some obstruction of justice carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Trump aide Walt Nauta was charged with six counts, including obstruction of justice and concealment charges.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the investigation, said he would seek to speed up the trial, and urged the public to read the indictment carefully to understand the seriousness of the charges. .
What documents are kept?
According to the indictment, classified documents that Trump kept in boxes at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida included information related to both US and foreign weapons and defense capabilities; US nuclear programs; the possibility of military attack by the United States and its allies; and possible response plans in response to a foreign attack.
The documents obtained by Trump after leaving the White House originated or were related to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Pentagon, the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the Office National Reconnaissance, Department of Energy, Department of State, Department of Intelligence and Research under the Department of State.
“The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents poses risks to the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the U.S. military, the sources of information, and the viability of the U.S. military. method of collecting sensitive intelligence," the indictment states.
Document boxes are kept at Mar-a-Lago
Share to whom?
The indictment details two times Trump shared highly sensitive documents with unauthorized people, once at the White House in July 7.2021 and once at his golf club in Bedminster , New Jersey in August or September 8.
During his visit to the White House, he presented and described an "attack plan" prepared by Pentagon officials, during a recorded meeting with a writer, a publisher, and two employees. CNN revealed that the recording shows that Mr. Trump admitted the document was secret and that he had not declassified it when he was president.
In the second case, Mr. Trump showed a representative on his political action committee, who did not have a security clearance, to view a classified map related to a military operation. Mr Trump is said to have told the associate during a meeting at the club in Bedminster that he should not show the person and that they should not get too close.
Materials at the banquet hall
Many documents, including a classified document, were scattered on the floor of the warehouse
Obstruction of justice
According to the indictment, in May 5.2021, Mr. Trump had someone clean up a storage room on the ground floor of Mar-a-Lago to use as a place to store classified documents. Documents are also stored in many other places such as the banquet hall, toilets and baths, offices, bedrooms and warehouses.
In December, Walt Nauta, a longtime Trump aide and also charged in the case, discovered several documents scattered on the floor labeled "confidential" and shared only between the coalition. Five Eyes intelligence (UK, Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia).
The indictment shows that Trump considered several actions to avoid having to return classified documents, such as asking his attorney to "hide or destroy" documents in his possession following a court subpoena in June 6.2022. .
Prosecutors allege Mr. Trump tried to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and concealed his continued possession of classified documents by asking His attorney lied to the FBI that he did not keep the documents in question.
Prosecutors allege that Trump directed his aide Nauta to hide the boxes of documents. The former president also asked his attorney to hide or destroy documents requested by the grand jury and lied that he had turned over all the necessary documents.
In another case, after attorney Evan Corcoran went to collect documents to be submitted under a court order in May, Trump signaled to the lawyer to "filter out" documents he said should not be. return it to the government.
