Donald Trump charged over document handling
Donald Trump will face a federal court in Miami next week after being charged over his handling of classified documents.
Donald Trump has been charged over his handling of classified documents after he left the White House.
The 76-year-old former US president is facing seven charges, which remain sealed to the public, and will appear in Federal Court in Miami on Tuesday (13.06.23), with his lawyer, Jim Trusty, confirming the allegations “break out from an Espionage Act charge.”
The lawyer told CNN: "It does have some language in it that suggests what the seven charges would be. Not 100% clear that all of those are separate charges, but they basically break out from an Espionage Act charge.
“[There are also] several obstruction-based-type charges and then false statement charges.”
He branded the espionage charge "ludicrous" but refused to reveal when his team had first received a letter from the Justice Department listing Trump as a target of their investigation.
The former 'Apprentice' star - who plans to run for office again at the next election - blasted the charges on his own social networking platform Truth Social and insisted he is innocent.
He 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! (sic)"
In a further post, he added: "This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!(sic)"
Trump later posted a four-minute video, in which he branded he allegations a "hoax" that amount to election interference.
He said: "We have such big problems - this shouldn't be one of them.
"I'm an innocent man. I did nothing wrong. I will fight this, just like we've been fighting for seven years.
"I'm an innocent man, we will prove it again. Seven years of proving it and here we go again. Very unfair - but that's the way it is."
The indictment comes after Trump became the first former president to be charged with a crime in April after he pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to payments made to a porn star, and he will face trial in New York next year.
He is also being investigated over efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
