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Former president Donald Trump showed highly-classified information to unauthorised persons on two separate occasions, according to a copy of the indictment against him that has been obtained by The Independent. The 49-page, 37-count indictment was unsealed on Friday after Mr Trump released a series of social media posts revealing that he has been indicted by a grand jury under supervision of Special Counsel Jack Smith. The indictment details the charges against Mr Trump and Walt Nauta, a former US Navy noncommissioned officer who left government service to work for Mr Trump after his term ended in January 2021. According to the indictment, the 37 charges against Mr Trump and Mr Nauta include willful retention of national defence information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations. The first 31 counts of the indictment concern Mr Trump’s willful retention of national defence information at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Florida home. Read More What is an indictment? Here’s what Donald Trump is facing Trump indicted in classified documents case in a historic first for a former president Conspiracy, false statements and retaining national defence documents: The federal charges against Donald Trump Trump has been caught on tape. Congratulations, Donald – you played yourself

The federal indictment against Donald Trump outlines 37 counts related to retaining classified information, willfully retaining national defence information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and more. The indictment was unsealed on Friday (9 June) afternoon, revealing the Department of Justice’s findings after a nearly year-long investigation into Mr Trump retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Last August, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized boxes of documents from Mr Trump’s home, some of which included top-secret records detailing a foreign nation’s nuclear capabilities. Here are key points from the indictment: Trump kept classified documents in his bathroom, bedroom and more Photos included in the indictment show several rooms in Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home where he allegedly kept boxes containing classified documents. This includes the bathroom and shower at the Mar-a-Lago Club’s Lake Room, the White and Gold Ballroom, the business center at Mar-a-Lago and more. Trump described a Pentagon’s classified ‘plan of attack’ to a book writer and staff More follows Read More Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

Donald Trump has lashed out at special counsel Jack Smith, branding the federal prosecutor who has indicted him over mishandling of secret national security papers a “deranged lunatic” and “psycho” on social media. The former president attacked Mr Smith on his Truth Social platform after the Department of Justice’s 49-page 37-count indictment against him was made public on Friday. “This is the man who caused the Lois Lerner catastrophe with the IRS. He went after Evangelicals and Great Americans of Faith. The United States had to apologize, and pay major damages for what this deranged lunatic did,” stated twice-impeached Mr Trump. “He had a unanimous loss in the Supreme Court. His wife is a Trump Hater, just as he is a Trump Hater—a deranged “psycho” that shouldn’t be involved in any case having to do with “Justice,” other than to look at Biden as a criminal, which he is!” The indictment details the charges against Mr Trump and Walt Nauta, a former US Navy noncommissioned officer who left government service to work for Mr Trump after his term ended in January 2021. According to the indictment, the 37 charges against Mr Trump and Mr Nauta include willful retention of national defence information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations. The first 31 counts of the indictment concern Mr Trump’s willful retention of national defence information at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Florida home. Read More Trump indictment unsealed — live: Trump ‘plotted to hide papers from FBI after showing military docs to visitors’ How Trump’s second indictment unfolded: A timeline of the investigation into Mar-a-Lago documents Trump described Pentagon ‘plan of attack’ and shared classified military map with PAC member, indictment shows Trump praised attorney for deleting Hillary Clinton’s 30,000 emails, indictment shows Is Donald Trump going to prison?

Former president Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted a legally dubious claim that he declassified sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago property before he left the White House after losing the 2020 presidential election. But he admitted, on a tape, six months after leaving office, that a document in his possession was “classified”, “highly confidential” and “secret information”. He admitted, on tape, that he could declassify such documents as president, but now that he is out of office, “I can’t.” The recording from July 2021 was in possession of federal prosecutors investigating the former president’s alleged mishandling of hundreds of documents bearing classification markings found in boxes at his Florida home, and whether he lied to authorities and his attorneys about the records he was keeping. A transcript of the recording published by CNN is expected to be a central piece of evidence in a federal case against the former president, who faces 37 counts in a federal indictment unsealed on 9 June. The recording also appears to contradict his ongoing, bogus claims about documents in his possession, as he rails against the federal “witch hunt” against him, among a long list of criminal charges, lawsuits and other legal actions he faces in courtrooms across the country. Last year, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he could declassify sensitive material by thinking about it. “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying it’s declassified – even by thinking about it,” he said. “Because you’re sending it to Mar-a-Lago or wherever you’re sending it. There doesn’t have to be a process. There can be a process, but there doesn’t have to be.” In an appearance on Fox News with Hannity last week, the former president dismissed reports of the tape. “All I know is this: everything I did was right,” he said. By July 2021, officials at the National Archives and Records Administration had already spent several weeks urging Mr Trump to return documents they believed he had in his possession, culminating in a federal law enforcement search of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022. The recording appears to have taken place at Mr Trump’s resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, alongside two people working with his former chief of staff Mark Meadows on his memoir from his time in the administration. Aides for Mr Trump, including communications specialist Margo Martin, also were reportedly present. Ms Martin was reportedly asked about the recording during a grand jury appearance in the case. A transcript of the recording suggests that the former president was showing the document to people in the room. The file allegedly involves a US Department of Defense report involving an attack on Iran. “Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” he said at one point, according to the transcript. “This was done by the military and given to me.” The meeting followed The New Yorker’s publication of a story from Susan Glasser detailing how, in the final days of Mr Trump’s presidency, his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley had instructed his team to prevent Mr Trump from launching a strike that could trigger a war. Mr Trump reportedly sought to use the document to discredit Mr Milley’s warnings and undermine reports that Mr Milley pushed back against an increasingly erratic president in the finals days of the administration, but the document reportedly was drafted much earlier in Mr Trump’s administration under then-Joint Chiefs chairman Joseph Dunford. “Well, with Milley – uh, let me see that, I’ll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t that amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him,” Mr Trump said, according to the transcript. “They presented me this – this is off the record, but – they presented me this,” he added. “This was him. This was the Defense Department and him. We looked at some. This was him. This wasn’t done by me, this was him.” Later, he said there was “all sorts of stuff – pages long.” “Wait a minute, let’s see here,” he continued. “I just found, isn’t that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this.” “Secret” and “confidential” are among classification markings for sensitive government documents. Mr Trump is charged with 31 of 37 counts under a section of the Espionage Act that prohibits “gathering, transmitting or losing” any “information respecting the national defence”. The use of Section 793, which does not make reference to classified information, is likely intended to undercut Mr Trump’s attempts to claim that he declassified such documents before moving them to his Florida home. That statute is written in a way that could encompass Mr Trump’s conduct even if he was authorised to possess the information as president. It states that anyone who “lawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document … relating to the national defence” and “willfully” transmits such information in any way can face a prison sentence of up to 10 years. For an additional conviction on a charge of obstruction, prosecutors must prove whether he knowingly kept documents from authorities and willfully defied the Justice Department’s subpoena for documents in his possession. A conviction includes a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The investigation is one of two helmed by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead a probe into the documents and Mr Trump’s role in the January 6 attempt to subvert the 2020 presidential election. Read More Trump indictment - live: Trump says he’s ‘an innocent man’ as he faces seven charges in documents case Obstruction, witness tampering, conspiracy: The federal charges against Donald Trump How Trump’s second indictment unfolded: A timeline of the investigation into Mar-a-Lago documents

Donald Trump praised an attorney who deleted 30,000 Hillary Clinton emails, according to a newly unsealed indictment from special counsel Jack Smith. As a candidate and president, Mr Trump repeatedly called for his 2016 opponent to be locked up after she was found to have used a private server to for official communications as secretary of state. But privately, he joked about how her lawyers had “done a great job” deleting the emails. The unsealed indictment details a conversation Mr Trump held with two lawyers, listed as Trump Attorney 1 and Trump Attorney 2 on 23 May 2022. The lawyers informed Mr Trump he would have to comply with a Department of Justice subpoena to turn over any classified materials to the National Archive. According to the indictment, Mr Trump asked them: “Well what happens if we just don’t respond at all or don’t play ball with them?” In a subsequent conversation, “memorialised” by Attorney 1, Mr Trump allegedly said: “(Attorney), he was great, he did a great job. You know what? He said, he said that it... was him. That he was the one who deleted all of her emails, the 30,000 emails, because they basically dealt with her scheduling and her going to the gym and her having beauty appointments. “And he was great. And he, so she didn’t get in any trouble because he said that he was the one who deleted him.” The identity of the attorney who supposedly deleted Ms Clinton’s emails was redacted. Trump Attorney 1, who was apparently recording the conversation, was said to be Evan Corcoran, according to CNN. The indictment, released a day after Mr Trump was indicted, revealed that he has been charged with 37 counts including conspiracy to obstruct justice and scheme to conceal that laid bare for the first time the vast scope of the classified document investigation. According to the indictment, FBI agents collected a total of 102 classified documents during a search of Mar-a-Lago last August. Read More Trump indictment — live: Justice Department unseals classified papers indictment as aide also faces charges Trump described Pentagon ‘plan of attack’ and shared classified military map with PAC member, indictment shows Conspiracy, false statements and retaining national defense documents: The federal charges against Donald Trump Trump indictment unsealed: Ex-president showed classified documents to unauthorised persons Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

Former president Donald Trump showed highly-classified information to unauthorised persons on two separate occasions, according to a copy of the indictment against him that has been obtained by The Independent. The 49-page, 37-count indictment was unsealed on Friday after Mr Trump released a series of social media posts revealing that he has been indicted by a grand jury under supervision of Special Counsel Jack Smith. The indictment details the charges against Mr Trump and Walter Nauta, a former US Navy noncommissioned officer who left government service to work for Mr Trump after his term ended in January 2021. It also lays out the two instances on which Mr Trump showed classified documents to unauthorised persons at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club. The first, in July 2021, was during an interview with a writer and a publisher who were working on a book by his ex-chief of staff, Mark Meadows. According to the indictment, Mr Trump showed the writer, the book publisher, and two staff members who lacked security clearances a “plan of attack” put together by General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had recently been reported as criticising Mr Trump by the New Yorker. The second instance involved a classified map of an unnamed country, and staff working for Mr Trump’s political action committee. The indictment states that Mr Trump acknowledged that he lacked the authorization to show the documents at issue to the people who were present for both incidents. According to the indictment, the 37 charges against Mr Trump and Mr Nauta include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations. More follows... Read More Rep. Santos says he's protecting family members by seeking to keep bond cosigners secret DoJ unseals Trump classified papers indictment as aide also faces charges - live Trump ‘body man’ Walt Nauta has been indicted alongside ex-president

Donald Trump described a “plan of attack” devised by the Pentagon and shared a classified military map with a member of his political action committee who didn’t have a security clearance, the 37-count indictment against the former president shows. The indictment was unsealed on Friday afternoon. More follows...

A Donald Trump ‘body man’ has reportedly been indicted in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the former president’s mishandling of classified documents. Walt Nauta, a longtime Trump aide, is the second person to be indicted in the investigation, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Mr Trump immediately confirmed the development in a Truth Social post. “I have just learned that the ‘Thugs from the Department of Injustice will be Indicting a wonderful man, Walt Nauta, a member of the U.S. Navy, who served proudly with me in the White House, retired as Senior Chief, and then transitioned into private life as a personal aide,” he ranted. Mr Trump added that federal investigators were “trying to destroy his life”. “He is strong, brave, and a Great Patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!” Details of the indictment were not immediately known. Mr Nauta, a former White House aide who later joined Mr Trump’s staff at Mar-a-Lago, was reportedly with the former president when news of the indictment broke on Thursday, according to CNN. Mr Trump was indicted on seven separate federal counts understood to include conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements, and unlawful retention of national defence information on Thursday night. Breaking more to come Read More Trump indictment — live: Trump’s brazen classified document admission revealed amid MAGA meltdown over charges Trump-appointed judge will initially preside over ex-president’s federal indictment Trump faces unprecedented legal peril, but will it hurt his standing with Republican voters?

The federal judge who will initially preside over Donald Trump’s criminal indictment in the classified documents case was appointed by the former president and delivered him a series of controversial and favourable rulings during the investigation. US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the bench in 2020 during Mr Trump’s final year in office, is scheduled to preside his federal court case in Miami when he faces seven counts in an indictment involving his alleged mishandling of sensitive records removed from the White House and kept at his Mar-a-Lago property. ABC News first reported the development. Last year, Judge Cannon appointed a “special master” to review materials seized by federal law enforcement and restricted the FBI from using those documents as part of the investigation until she completed a review, effectively freezing the US Department of Justice probe. That order was ultimately thrown out entirely by a federal appeals court. The three-judge panel sharply criticised Judge Cannon’s order, writing that it is “extraordinary for a warrant to be executed at the home of a former president – but not in a way that affects our legal analysis or otherwise gives the judiciary license to interfere in an ongoing investigation.” “The law is clear,” the panel wrote. “We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so.” Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who signed a warrant for federal authorities to search Mar-a-Lago in August 2021, will preside over Mr Trump’s first court appearance in Miami on 13 June. With a relatively brief career before her federal appointment, Judge Cannon, among a crowd of Federal Society acolytes that have reshaped the federal judiciary, was confirmed by the US Senate by a vote of 56-21. She previously served as an assistant US attorney for the Justice Department in the Southern District of Florida. If she does not recuse herself from the case and she remains a trial judge, she could play a potentially critical role in the case’s development, including whether to set a trial before or after presidential primary elections and the general election in 2024. She also could determine whether to admit certain evidence, decide on motions or dismiss arguments entirely. She also would preside over sentencing, if there is a conviction. Her decisions also would be subject to the review of a federal appellate court. Read More Trump indictment — live: Trump’s brazen classified document admission revealed amid MAGA meltdown over charges Obstruction, witness tampering, conspiracy: The federal charges against Donald Trump How Trump’s second indictment unfolded: A timeline of the investigation into Mar-a-Lago documents

Donald Trump immediately started to fundraise off his fresh indictment on seven counts in the federal probe into his handling of classified information. Mr Trump is set to appear in court on Tuesday at a federal courthouse in Miami. If convicted, he could face a sentence of more than a century in prison. “This is nothing but a disgusting act of Election Interference by the ruling party to ELIMINATE its opposition and amass total control over our country,” Mr Trump wrote in a message to supporters. “The Deep State thought they had destroyed our campaign when a Soros-backed prosecutor indicted and even ARRESTED me earlier this year,” Mr Trump added in reference to his arraignment in the New York hush-money case involving adult actor Stormy Daniels. “But then, we SHOCKED them as our campaign grew even stronger... We broke fundraising records. 3 independent polls showed us beating Joe Biden by 7 POINTS. In fact, polls show I’m the ONLY Republican who can beat Crooked Joe,” he added. “So, after a state prosecutor failed to break us, the Deep State sharpened their attacks and unleashed a FEDERAL prosecutor to TRY and take us down.” “But let me be as clear as possible: No matter how viciously they attack me, I will NEVER, EVER SURRENDER our country to the radical Left and I will NEVER end this presidential campaign that puts YOU first,” he said. The 45th president has now been indicted for the second time in less than three months. The new charges stem from his alleged illegal retention of national security information. It was Mr Trump himself who initially shared the news that he had been indicted again. He did so in several posts on his social media platform Truth Social the day after it was reported that federal prosecutors had planned to ask a grand jury to indict Mr Trump. “The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,” Mr Trump wrote. “I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country, and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election,” he claimed, calling himself “an innocent man”. “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!” he wrote. The seven-count indictment reportedly includes one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of making false statements, and at least one count of unlawful retention of national defence information. Trump attorney James Trusty appeared on CNN on Thursday saying that one count in the indictment concerns a violation of Section 1512 of the US criminal code, which refers to witness tampering. The charges against Mr Trump come a few days after his legal team met with Justice Department officials as they failed to convince the authorities not to indict their client. The investigation began last year when the National Archives and Records Administration found more than 100 documents marked classified while going through 15 boxes taken from Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida residence.

Chris Christie is punching back at Donald Trump after the former president responded to his campaign announcement with a juvenile video edit making fun of Mr Christie’s weight. The former New Jersey governor appeared on CNN on Wednesday after launching his campaign with a town hall event at St Anselm College a night earlier in Manchester, New Hampshire. “It’s so juvenile. He is such a spoiled baby,” Mr Christie said. This is the second time Mr Christie has made a bid for the White House, the first being in 2016 when he lost to former president Donald Trump. Though Mr Christie lent his support to Mr Trump in 2016 when he dropped out of the race, he has since changed his opinion of the former president and become a vocal critic. That was evident on Tuesday, as he denounced his former ally as a corrupt narcissist and vowed to draw blood in his quest for the Republican nomination. He did so several times during the town hall event, notably by tearing into the former president’s family for “breathtaking” levels of corruption and “grift”, which he said had followed them through the White House and beyond. Read More Trump ridicules Chris Christie’s weight in edited 2024 campaign launch video Chris Christie gave Trump legitimacy. Now he can’t stop Trump in 2024 Fox News host apologises for ‘milkshake’ Chris Christie comment The Republican presidential field is largely set. Here are takeaways on where the contest stands. Chris Christie hits back at Trump’s mockery over his weight: ‘He’s such a spoiled baby’

Donald Trump made the stunning admission that he held onto “secret” military information that he hadn’t declassified. “As president, I could have declassified, but now I can’t,” Mr Trump said during the meeting in 2021 after he left office, according to a transcript obtained by CNN. In the meeting, Mr Trump spoke about a classified Defence Department document regarding a supposed attack on Iran. The recording was obtained by prosecutors, in which Mr Trump states that he didn’t declassify the document he’s speaking about. On Thursday, Mr Trump was indicted on seven counts in the probe led by special counsel Jack Smith into the ex-president’s handling of classified documents. The indictment hasn’t been made fully public, meaning it’s not clear if any of those charges relate to the recording from 2021. But the recording does show that Mr Trump was aware that the documents he had brought with him from the White House after leaving office on 20 January that year were still classified. In public, Mr Trump has argued that all of the files he took to Florida had been declassified and he has claimed that the investigation is a witch hunt and an attempt to hinder his 2024 campaign to return to the White House. It was reported last week that prosecutors had procured the audio recording, which was made in 2021 at Mr Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey resort with two individuals working on the autobiography of Mr Trump’s final White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in addition to aides to the former president, such as Marco Martin, a communications staffer. The transcript implies that Mr Trump is showing the document he’s speaking about during the conversation. CNN reported that several sources have said that the sound from the recording includes the rustling of papers, indicating that Mr Trump may have been moving the document around. But’s it’s not clear if it was the document regarding Iran. “Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” Mr Trump said. “This was done by the military and given to me.” At the time, Mr Trump was complaining about the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley. The meeting took place not long after a story published by The New Yorker outlined how Gen Milley told the Joint Chiefs during the last days of Mr Trump’s time in office to make sure that the then-president not give any illegal orders and that Gen Milley should be made aware if there were any concerns. “Well, with Milley – uh, let me see that, I’ll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t that amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him,” Mr Trump said, the transcript shows. “They presented me this – this is off the record, but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him. We looked at some. This was him. This wasn’t done by me, this was him.” “All sorts of stuff – pages long, look. Wait a minute, let’s see here. I just found, isn’t that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” Mr Trump added. “Secret” and “confidential” are both degrees of classified information. Federal prosecutors have probed Mr Trump’s handling of classified information and his obstruction of the investigation. Mr Trump’s attorney said the 45th president was summoned by the Department of Justice to appear in court on Tuesday in Miami. Mr Smith, the Special Counsel, is also investigating Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Mr Smith was appointed in November to lead the Department of Justice’s documents and election probes by Attorney General Merrick Garland.