The US judiciary accuses former President Donald Trump of conspiracy to obstruct investigations in the affair of secret government documents. That emerges from the indictment against the Republican, which was published on Friday. A total of seven categories of offenses are listed, and he is charged with more than 35 criminal offenses. Among other things, Trump is accused of intentionally storing national defense information. This point falls under the US espionage law and can be punished with up to ten years imprisonment.
The background is the affair surrounding Trump’s handling of secret government documents after he left the White House. The indictment states that some of the boxes of intelligence documents were temporarily stored in a room at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate where public events were held. A June 2020 document seized from Trump contained information on another country’s nuclear capabilities. Special Counsel Jack Smith wanted to comment on the charges at 9:00 p.m. (CEST).
Classified information with the highest level of secrecy
The federal police FBI had examined Trump’s private property Mar-a-Lago in Florida in August and confiscated numerous classified documents there, some with the highest classification level. Because the Republican kept the documents in his private home long after he left the presidency, he could have committed a criminal offense. After Trump officially announced in November that he would run again in the 2024 election, the Justice Department appointed the independent special counsel Smith to outsource the politically sensitive investigation into Trump.
Now came the historical indictment. It is the first time a federal indictment has been filed against a former US President. Trump had already been charged at the state level in New York in April in connection with hush money payments to a porn star. In a civil proceeding a few weeks ago, he was held responsible for a sexual assault in court. So far, the allegations in connection with the documents have weighed the most heavily from a legal point of view.
However, other cases are being investigated against Trump in connection with his attempts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. So further charges could possibly follow – and they could also be dangerous for him.
