It’s been another whirlwind week for former President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, a report issued by Just the News said that Trump’s legal team was notified by federal prosecutors that he would likely be indicted as part of the Department of Justice’s probe into how he handled classified documents.
After that news became public, Trump denied that was true. Later that day, the former president spoke to Maggie Haberman of The New York Times, who then tweeted:
“Trump tells me minutes ago he has NOT been told he’s getting indicted, when contacted. ‘It’s not true,’ he said, adding again he hasn’t done anything wrong.
“When I asked if he had been told he’s a target, he demurred, saying he doesn’t talk directly to prosecutors.”
Yet, on Friday, Solomon’s reporting came true.
Trump was indicted Friday morning on seven counts as a result of special counsel Jack Smith’s probe into the former president’s handling of classified documents. Trump already was the first former president to face criminal charges when he was indicted in New York state court in early April, and now he’s also the first president to ever be indicted on federal charges.
One of the charges levied against Trump falls under the Espionage Act, one of his lawyers, Jim Trusty, told CNN. He’ll also face other charges such as giving false statements, conspiracy, destruction or falsification of records, and obstruction of justice.
The investigation by the special counsel has dealt with how Trump handled classified documents that he brought with him to the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when he left Washington, D.C., in 2021. Smith has also been looking into whether Trump tried to obstruct the investigation as well as efforts by the federal government to retrieve those documents.
Trump took to his Truth Social social media platform to announce that the DOJ was indicting him and that he was “summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM.”
He continued:
“The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax.”
When Trusty spoke to CNN on Thursday, he said that the former president’s legal team received an email about the summons from the DOJ on Thursday that listed all the charges against their client. However, at that point, the legal team hadn’t seen the full indictment.
Officials with law enforcement agencies were actually surprised when Trump announced the indictment on social media, since the US Marshal and US Secret Service weren’t given advance notice that the charges were being handed down. That just plays to how secretive and tight-to-the-vest Smith’s investigation has been.
Now, officials are saying that law enforcement agencies are trying to scramble to provide all the security they believe will be necessary for Trump’s appearance in federal court in MIami next week. According to the CNN report, the DOJ is shifting some additional resources to the area to help in that regard.
Simply being charged with these federal crimes won’t prevent Trump from running for president, though he obviously wouldn’t be able to serve if he were found guilty and put in jail.
But, even if that far-out possibility does come true, it likely wouldn’t happen for quite some time anyway.
