Donald Trump indicted on 37 counts in classified documents probe: 

Sarah K. Burris Matthew Chapman

 

 

 

Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on thirty seven charges relating to mishandling classified government documents and obstructing justice, according to CNN. Specific charges have not been revealed as of press time, although it has been confirmed that Trump will be traveling to Miami, Florida to respond to the charges, suggesting that will be the venue of the case.

It makes him the first sitting or former president ever to face a federal indictment.

The charges came after Trump’s legal team met with Department of Justice officials on Monday, including Special Counsel Jack Smith who has been leading two separate investigations into Trump since November last year. They involve Trump’s handling of classified documents and attempting to reverse the election result of 2020.

Monday’s meeting had been considered by many insiders to be the last step before an indictment decision.

The former president responded to the news on his Truth Social platform.

“I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM,” Trump wrote. “I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country, and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election. I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”

“This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America,” Trump added in another post. “We are a Country in serious and rapid Decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!”

This is the first federal indictment for Trump, though he’s facing charges in New York State involving hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, a porn star he’s accused of having an extra-marital affair with.

The former president is also under investigation in Georgia over allegations he played a part in an attempt to overturn the 2020 result and that he tried to have the state’s electoral college results awarded to him.

The documents investigation first came to public view when the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home in August last year. Reports since included that he’d obstructed justice by not returning them when asked.

Earlier this month, CNN reported that Smith had a recording of Trump talking about possessing one of the documents that involved plans to attack Iran. Other reports, again by CNN reported he’d had staff move documents before the FBI search, and that prosecutors were suspicious about a flood in a room that held servers for Mar-a-Lago’s security system.

A full timeline of the investigation can be found at this link.

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Appearing on MSNBC just hours after it was reported that Donald Trump is on the receiving end of seven federal indictments related to special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations, former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade explained that the espionage charge that is reportedly included will cripple a key Trump lawyer defense strategy.

Speaking with MSNBC’s Jonathan Lemire on “Way Too Early,” McQuade stated that, based on what she has heard about the still-sealed indictments, the inclusion of a charge tied to the Espionage Act takes Trump claim that the documents in question were declassified by him off the table.

“We know his explanations and justifications for having classified documents have changed quite a bit including the idea he just declassified them just by thinking about them,’ Lemire prompted. “It also seems his defense is trotting out a strategy of prosecutorial misconduct noting this is a charge brought by the Department of Justice that was underneath the president of the United States, Joe Biden, who is Donald Trump’s top rival for the White House next year. Walk us through the assessment of potential defenses, and do you think it could work?”

RELATED: ‘In over their heads’: Legal expert says Trump’s ‘D-list’ legal team is outmatched by DOJ

“I don’t think either of these defenses are going to work,” the former prosecutor replied. “They might sound good in the court of public opinion, and imagine I Trump will hammer them as he has, but as [MSNBC legal analyst] Danny Cevallos just said, this idea Trump declassified the documents is really off the table if the charge is the Espionage Act because there’s no requirement under the Espionage Act the documents be declassified.”

“They must merely pertain to the national defense,” she elaborated. “If they’re talking about military capabilities or attacks on Iran or whatever they are, that would qualify. So I think this completely neutralizes that defense.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr, once one of the ex-president’s top defenders, appeared stunned and speechless Thursday afternoon when a Fox News host surprised him by asking why the U.S. Dept. of Justice is pursuing a criminal investigation against Trump over classified documents while he is running again for president.

“Why is this process happening so quickly in the middle of a presidential election?” Fox’s Martha MacCallum asked. She neglected to mention that Donald Trump reportedly announced his presidential campaign to avoid being charged.

Barr, who is on record stating he opposes Trump’s actions surrounding the hundreds of classified and top secret documents he likely unlawfully removed from the White House and refused to return, paused for several seconds before replying.

“Uh,” Barr finally replied, “This, this was a fairly simple case,” he said, appearing to defend DOJ.

“The Mar-a-Lago case. This is a case that can be done relatively quickly, and that’s why I thought, it’s the main – because it’s a very limited question,” Barr explained, shifting gears. “It relates to, ah, one collection of documents and and why they weren’t given to the government once they were subpoenaed. And it’s a pretty simple case.”

Moving on, MacCallum asked, “And you believe that the charge will be obstruction, based on what you’ve said before?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Barr responded, seeming to not want to bet pinned down to an answer, “if I had to bet I think that that there’s going to be an indictment here on that basis, but it’s not going to be because he took the documents, or even had the documents for a while. I think it’s because they believe that he acted deceitfully once the government tried to get the documents back.”

On Tuesday, Barr spoke with CBS News to refute his ex-boss’s “witch hunt” claims, said the ex-president had “jerked” DOJ around over the hundreds of classified and top secret documents he refused to return, and added there was “no excuse” to do so.

The far-right loses it over Trump indictment: ‘This is the JFK assassination all over again’

Sarah K. Burris

Audience member Robin Roy (C) reacts as U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets her at a campaign rally in Lowell, Massachusetts January 4, 2016. (BRIAN SNYDER / Reuters)

While a number of Republican lawmakers rushed to comment on their disgust over the indictment of former President Donald Trump for his mishandling of classified documents, the far-right took a different route, diving into the deep end of hyperbole without a flotation device.

Male supremacist and racist Michael Cernovich was desperately triggered by the news, saying that it was like “the JFK assassination all over again.” He later explained that it was the “deep state” that killed JFK and they did it with bullets. The Justice Department is doing it in the case with the law.

White nationalist Stephen Miller appeared on the Fox network to say that the most important thing that must take place is that every Republican must rally around the former president. It’s not know yet how opponents of Trump’s in the 2024 race will respond to that.

Donald Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba, who once referred to the New York attorney general as a “Black b—h,” and would use the N-word regularly, also appeared on the Fox network. Speaking to Jesse Watters, she explained, “I’m embarrassed to be a lawyer at this moment. Honestly, I’m ashamed to be a lawyer.”

Her comments come fewer than five months after she and Trump were forced to pay nearly $938,000 in penalties for a “frivolous lawsuit” against Hillary Clinton and 30 other defendants. The judge in the case said the lawsuits were “drafted to advance a political narrative” and should “never have been brought.”

Fox host Mark Levin ranted that the tens of millions of Trump supporters still exist. “You have crossed the Rubicon twice, which has never been done, and we will never forgive you. Never ever!”

The comment prompted MSNBC host Chris Hayes to correct that the Rubicon is all one river. “So that would mean you…crossed back over it in retreat?”