Explained: Donald Trump and the classified documents saga

On Thursday, Donald Trump became the first former US president to be indicted over a federal criminal charge after he confirmed that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling over 100 classified documents at his Florida estate.

The Justice Department did not immediately publicly confirm the development, but several media reports, confirming sources, said that the indictment included seven criminalcounts.

The seven counts Trump will be tried upon include willfully retaining national defence secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements and obstruction of justice conspiracy.

What has been Trump’s reaction?

On this social Truth Social platform, Trump blasted the “corrupt” Biden administration.

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

Trump said he has been summoned to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday at 3 pm.

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

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 politicised and partisan Department of Injustice, has taken things to a new level, and set a dangerous precedent."

What led to Trump’s indictment?

In the spring of 2021, a team of officials from the National Archives and Records Administration reached out to representatives for Trump after finding out that important material from his time in office was missing from their collection.

According to the Presidential Records Act, White House documents are considered property of the USgovernment and must be preserved.

In December 2021, a Trump representative told the National Archives that presidential records had been found at Mar-a-Lago. A month later, the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of documents from Trump’s Florida home, later telling Justice Department officials that they contained “a lot” of classified material.

In May 2022, the FBI and Justice Department issued a subpoena for remaining classified documents that were said to be with Trump. Later, investigators who went to visit the property to collect the records were given roughly three dozen documents and a sworn statement from Trump’s lawyers attesting that the requested information had been returned.

However, that turned out to be false. The federal officials then returned to Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 after obtaining a search warrant and seized more than 33 boxes and containers totalling 11,000 documents from a storage room and an office, including 100 classified documents.

In total, around 300 documents with classification markings — including some at the top secret level — have been recovered from Trump since he left office in January 2021.

What could be the maximum punishment for Trump?

If convicted of violating theEspionage Act, the former president could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The law criminalises the illegal removal of any sensitive materials which relate to national defence.

ABC News reported that the rumoured charges against Trump might put him behind bars for five to 20 years if convicted.

What are the other charges faced by Trump?

Trump still faces other open criminal investigations. They include an inquiry led by Department of Justice’s Jack Smith into Trump’s efforts to hold onto power following his election loss, and how they led to the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol. There is also an investigation by a prosecutor in Georgia into his attempts to reverse his 2020 election loss in that vital swing state.

Trump is scheduled to go on trial in Manhattan next March after he was charged in connection with a hush-money payment to a porn star.

Will indictment prevent Trump from running for president?

Apparently, no. Neither the indictment nor a conviction would prevent Trump from running for or winning the presidency in 2024.

In fact, immediately after revealing that he has been indicted, his team announced that it has raised over $4 million in fundraising in the 24 hours after the news became public, far surpassing its previous record after the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

How are Trump’s rivals in Republican Party reacting?

Many of Trump’s challengers have jumped to his defence after the news of the indictment broke.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump’s top rival for the 2024 nomination, accused the Justice Department of political bias in charging the former president.

“The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society,” DeSantis tweeted. “We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.”

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said he felt the justice system’s “scales are weighted” based on politics.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said earlier Thursday that if Trump were to be indicted, he would hope the Justice Department had strong evidence.

(With inputs from agencies)

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