Donald Trump, the former president of United States of America was trying to do his homework inside the bathroom of his Florida home. One can say the classified documents needed some quiet space to absorb the details in each and every document, hence a smart former President who reads in a relaxed manner to understand. No rush, just slow and easy!
The conduct alleged in the historic indictment is the first federal case against a former president. Moreover, it cuts to the heart of any president’s responsibility to safeguard the government’s most valuable secrets.
Donald Trump has made waves after he has been accused of keeping US nuclear secrets and files in shower. Trump always brags that he has dirt on everyone, and now we know where he keeps it.
Some files were allegedly stored on stage in the ballroom, where events and gatherings took place. Some others were kept in a bathroom and a shower, an office space, and in his bedroom. Other classified documents were found spilled out of the boxes onto the floor of the storage room.
The former president faces 37 felony counts related to retaining classified information, obstructing justice and false statements. The charges accuse the president of risking some of the country’s most sensitive security secrets. Details on the US nuclear weapons programmes, potential vulnerabilities of the US and its allies, and US plans for retaliatory military attacks were in some of the documents, the federal indictment said.
Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith made his first public announcement Friday, confirming that Donald Trump had been charged with felony violations concerning National Security laws as well as participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice. Prosecutors said Trump showed another person a document from the defence department described as a “plan of attack” against another country.
Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, said the former president is a victim “of a corrupt and distorted version of the American justice system and history. He will be vindicated.” In the indictment, allegations against Trump are that he refused to return sensitive documents he had taken from the White House after his presidential term had elapsed . He is also accused of enlisting aids to help him hide the documents from the FBI as well as allegedly telling his lawyers to defy a subpoena for the materials.
Donald Trump was once indicted back in March by the Manhattan district attorney on state charges related to hush-money payments to a former adult-film star in 2016. However, this new indictment involves completely different charges, brought by the federal government and related to his handling of classified documents after he left the White House. Trump is facing a charge under the Espionage Act, his attorney Jim Trusty said, as well as charges of obstruction of justice, destruction or falsification of records, conspiracy and false statements.
Donald Trump faces the possibility of prison if convicted, with the charge of obstruction of justice carrying the highest penalty of up to 20 years. Charged alongside Trump was his aide Walt Nauta, who was seen on a CCTV camera removing boxes at the Mar-a-Lago estate, in Florida. Nauta now faces charges including conspiracy and making false statements.
The former president, currently the leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has denied any wrongdoing, and is expected to appear in a Miami courthouse on Tuesday afternoon. Until then, anything we hear on the matter is likely to come from Trump himself.
In a rare bit of welcome news for the Donald Trump, the judge initially assigned to the case is someone he appointed and who drew criticism for rulings in his favour during a dispute last year over a special master assigned to review the seized classified documents.
