Former President Donald Trump says he has been indicted by a federal grand jury in relation to classified documents stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Multiple outlets report Trump said he was indicted in connection with improperly handling classified documents. The Department of Justice said it seized over 100 classified documents from Mar-a-Lago last year.
Trump said Thursday that he was due in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, June 13.
The Department of Justice did not immediately comment or confirm the indictment.
Trump has not denied having the documents in his possession and has claimed that he declassified the documents before he left office.
“Number one, it was all declassified,” Trump wrote last year. “Number two, they didn’t need to ‘seize’ anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago. It was in secured storage, with an additional lock put on as per their request. They could have had it anytime they wanted—and that includes LONG ago.”
According to a search warrant made public by a federal judge, 28 boxes of evidence were taken from Trump’s residence, including multiple top-secret documents.
There were three potential criminal statutes listed in the original search warrant. In order to obtain a search warrant, officials would have to prove they have probable cause and that they would find evidence of a crime.
The statutes listed were:
18 USC 2071 — Concealment, removal or mutilation generally
18 USC 793 — Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information
18 USC 1519 — Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in Federal investigations and bankruptcy
Federal grand juries are composed of 16-23 citizens. Their deliberations are considered secret.
In order for a grand jury to return an indictment, at least 12 jurors have to believe it is probable that someone committed a crime. Unlike a conviction, jurors can issue an indictment even if they have reasonable doubt.
Earlier this year, Trump became the first sitting or former president to be indicted for a crime. He was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Trump issued a not-guilty plea in a Manhattan courtroom in April. The case likely won’t go to trial for a number of months.
Trump was under investigation for alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels through his attorney Michael Cohen. The payments were made in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. That investigation involved three instances of hush money payments being made on Trump’s behalf.
This is a developing story. Stay with Scripps News for additional updates.
