A 37-count indictment against former President Donald Trump was opened on Friday, claiming Trump unlawfully kept hundreds of classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office..The documents include papers detailing America’s conventional and nuclear weapons programs, potential weak points in US defences, and plans to respond to a foreign attack, federal prosecutors charged Friday, reports The New York Post..Boxes of documents were even stored in a bathroom and shower.. Trump indictment .A personal aide to Trump, Walt Nauta, was also charged in the affair, claiming Nauta made false statements to federal investigators..In the indictment, prosecutors said “Nauta became an executive assistant to the Office of Donald J. Trump and served as Trump’s personal aide or ‘body man.’ Nauta reported to Trump, worked closely with Trump and travelled with Trump.”.Special Counsel Jack Smith spoke at a Friday press conference about the 37 charges against Trump..“Today an indictment was unsealed charging Donald J. Trump with violations of our national security laws along with conspiracy to obstruct justice,” said Smith..“This indictment was voted by a grand jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida, and I invite everyone to read it in full to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged. The men and women of the U.S. intelligence community and our Armed Forces dedicate their lives to protecting our nation and its people.” Smith did not take any questions before leaving the podium.It’s the first-ever federal case filed against a sitting or former president and the culmination of investigations into Trump’s possession of documents that started with the FBI raids at Trump’s Florida home last August..The indictment includes 31 counts of willful retention of national defence information; one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice; one count of withholding a document or record; one count of corruptly concealing a document or record; one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation; one count of scheming to conceal a document or record and; one count of making false statement, reports The Post..The 49-page indictment claims Trump stored boxes containing the documents throughout his property, including “a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room.” .Trump wasn’t hesitant to talk about and show off the documents, according to prosecutors, who cited a recorded July 2021 meeting at which the ex-president reportedly displayed a “plan of attack” against Iran prepared by Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reports The Post. .At that meeting were a writer, publisher and two staff members, none of whom possessed a security clearance. .Trump showed and described the plan of attack. Trump telling the individuals the plan was highly confidential and secret. Trump also said, “as president I could have declassified it and now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret,” according to the indictment..Trump is also accused of showing someone on his political action committee a “classified map related to a military operation,” admonishing the person not to get too close and admitting he shouldn’t be showing it off..The indictment reads, “The classified documents Trump stored in his boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.”.“The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods”.Trump is expected to turn himself in to authorities at the federal court in Miami on Tuesday. .Attorney and Fox News commentator Johnathan Turley said the trial could run well past the 2024 presidential election.
