Donald Trump indicted on 7 counts, including Espionage Act in classified documents case

Former US president Donald Trump has said that he has been indicted in the probe over his handling of classified documents after leaving the office, a developmentthat makes him the first former president to face federal criminal charges.

"The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax," Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social as he broke what would be bombshell news that he has been charged criminally for the second time.

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No immediate confirmationwas forthcoming from the Department of Justice. However, a CNN report states that the Republican leader has been indicted on seven counts. He has been charged under the Espionage Act,as well as charges of obstruction of justice, destruction or falsification of records, conspiracy and willful retention of documents and false statements, according to people familiar with the indictment.

The Associated Press reported that two people familiar with the situation, but not authorised to discuss it publicly, said that the indictment included seven criminal counts. One of them said Trump’s lawyers were contacted by prosecutors shortly before he announced on his Truth Social platform that he had been indicted.

Watch | The growing legal woes for Donald Trump | Classified documents probe

Trump said he has been summoned to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday at 3 p.m. A seven-count indictment has been filed in federal court naming the former president as a criminal defendant, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to describe a case that has yet to be unsealed.

"I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States," he wrote.

Trump has declared that he would run for president again in US Presidential Election 2024. He is currently the frontrunner among presidential hopefuls who are vying to get Republican Party nomination.

Trump's announcement came a day after US media said federal prosecutors informed the former president's lawyers that he is the target of the probe into his handling of classified documents.

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Trump who has been first US president to have been impeached twice while in office also has the tag of first former of sitting president to be charged with a crime. This was over election-eve hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels who said she had an affair with him. That indictment came in March.

‘I am innocent’

About half an hour after his initial post on Truth Social. Trump took to Truth Social again. This time with a video.

"I am innocent," he stressed.

In a statement after his initial online posts, the Trump campaign lashed out at what it called an "unprecedented abuse of power" and called for the indictment to be thrown out.

Trump "has long been the biggest threat and the top political target for Joe Biden and the corrupt Democrat Party," his campaign said in a statement.

"Today's act of open legal 'warfare' by the highly politicized and partisan Department of Injustice, has taken things to a new level, and set a dangerous precedent."

The classified documents probe

US Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith who has been looking into cache of secret documents which were stored by Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence even after leaving the presidential office.

In August last year, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago and carted away about 11,000 documents. Trump had spent months resisting efforts by the authorities to recover the documents. This means that Trump can also face obstruction-of-justice charges.

Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

There is a possibility that he will be indicted in two more cases. These have to do with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia and his role in inciting attack on US Capitol building in 2021.

(With inputs from agencies)

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