Trump indicted in classified documents probe, faces criminal charges

Former US President Donald Trump has been indicted on seven counts in the special counsel’s classified documents investigation, in a first for a former president to face federal charges, according to US media reports.

Trump is facing a charge under the Espionage Act, his attorney Jim Trusty said on Thursday, as well as charges of obstruction of justice, destruction or falsification of records, conspiracy and false statements, according to a CNN report.

The special counsel has been investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents that were brought to his Mar-a-Lago Florida resort after he left the White House in 2021, as well as possible obstruction of the investigation and government efforts to retrieve the material.

The indictment comes for Trump at a time when he is running for president again in 2024 and is already facing criminal charges in two jurisdictions – and with two additional investigations into his conduct still underway.

Trump said on social media that he had been summoned to appear at the federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday. “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,” Trump wrote.

Trusty told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that Trump’s attorneys received a summons via email from the Justice Department Thursday listing the charges, but haven’t seen the indictment yet.

He called the Espionage Act charge “ludicrous.”

In a sign of how tightly held the special counsel kept word of the indictment, the US Secret Service and US Marshals did not get advance notice and were surprised by Trump’s announcement on social media, CNN cited law enforcement officials as saying.

Law enforcement is now rushing to get ready for the expected court appearance next week in Miami.

The indictment remains under seal, and even Trump himself has not yet seen what it says. His legal team was notified about the seven charges as part of a summons ordering Trump to appear in court, a Reuters report quoted a source as saying.

The federal indictment is the second time that Trump has been charged criminally this year. In April, the Manhattan district attorney charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business.