June 9, 2023
I just went through the 49-page indictment of former President Trump with a fine-toothed comb. And wow – are there some details you need to know with pictures.
First yes there are seven different federal felony crimes against Trump listed in the inducement but there are 37 counts against him. Now before I get into exactly what the indictment says – it’s important to say everyone in this country is innocent until proven guilty.
Now – to what we learned today from the indictment. Most importantly, though we always knew there were classified documents being held at Mar-a-Lago now we know exactly what type of classified documents were found there. According to the indictment they included “information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries, US nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.” The indictment goes on to say from the moment he left office, “Trump was not authorized to possessor retain those classified documents.”
This indictment includes photographs of the way those documents were being kept at Mar-a-Lago. You can see here from the time Trump left office until March 15 of 2021 all these boxes including those documents including defense and weapons capabilities were kept and stored in the Mar-a-Lago white and gold ballroom…just sitting there on the stage. In April of 2021 — some of the boxes were then moved to a bathroom. Then in June of 2021 they were moved to that basement storage room. Then in December of 2021 there was this picture from inside that storage room from a Trump aide along with a text saying “I opened the door and found this” – those documents are marked at secret and spilled out all over the floor.
The indictment says on two separate occasions at his Bedminster golf club, Trump showed and discussed these classified documents with people who were not authorized to see or hear them. The prosecutors say in July 2021 he showed a writer and two member of his staff and described a “plan of attack” from the Department of Defense. And in August or September of 2021 he showed a member of his political action committee a classified map related to a military operation. There are even quotes from trump who said at the time “as President I could have declassified it” and “now I can’t you know but this is still secret.”
Lastly the indictment says trump obstructed the FBI’s investigation including suggesting to his attorney to lie to the FBI suggestions his attorney hide or destroy documents meant for the grand jury, and submitting a false document through his lawyer that there were no more documents even though he knew there were.
The charges include 31 counts under the espionage act for the willful retention of national defense information. As I told you in this video yesterday – whether these documents were classified is not really relevant, this charge is specifically for illegally holding defense information.
Count 32 through 35 include conspiracy to obstruct justice charge, withholding documents or records, corruptly concealing documents then counts 36 and 37 were about scheming to conceal information and false statements and representations.
Counts 1 to 31 are punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Count 32 to 35 each have a max penalty of 20 years in prison. And counts 36 and 37 each have a maximum of 5 years in prison.
The former President will appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday at 3 pm to answer for these charges.
Read the Trump indictment here.
