Trump says he's been indicted in classified docs probe
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Former President Trump speaks during an event at Mar-a-Lago on April 4 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Former President Trump said Thursday that he was indicted in the criminal investigation into his handling of classified documents after leaving office.
Why it matters: It would be the first federal indictment of a former U.S. president. He is also the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
Driving the news: Trump said on Truth Social that he has been summoned to appear at the federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday. He told Fox News late Thursday he'd plead not guilty to the charges.
- The Department of Justice declined to comment.
- "The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax," Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social.
Of note: President Biden addressed the DOJ's investigation into Trump when questioned by a reporter on the matter at a Thursday news conference before his predecessor posted on social media that he's facing charges.
- "I have never once, not one single time, suggested to the Justice Department what they should do or not do, relative to bringing a charge or not bringing a charge," Biden said.
Details: Trump attorney Jim Trusty said on CNN that his team received a summons to appear in court and possessed a summary sheet outlining seven charges.
- He suggested they could include an Espionage Act charge, "several obstruction-based type charges" and false statement charges.
- Trusty also said that he believes there is a conspiracy charge.
The big picture: Trump's post comes nearly one year after the FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence and retrieved more than 100 classified documents.
- The FBI searched Trump's Florida residence last August to probe whether classified national security materials were illegally taken there.
- An unsealed affidavit related to the search warrant revealed that 14 of the 15 boxes retrieved from Mar-a-Lago by the National Archives and Record Administration contained 184 documents with classification markings.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting and background. Axios' Rebecca Falconer, TuAnh Dam and April Rubin contributed to this report.
Trump is running for president again — and so are a bunch of other Republicans.
The big picture: The former president is currently leading in early polls in the crowded Republican field, which ballooned this week with three newcomers.
- Contenders include former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Read more about the 2024 presidential candidates.
Democrats are treating Trump's reported second indictment, this time by a federal grand jury, with even greater gravity than the first, Axios' Andrew Solender reports.
Why it matters: The Justice Department's reported charges, over Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents, are widely seen as the most likely to ensnare the ex-president.
What they're saying: "This is more serious. The Feds, it's always very serious," Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), a former criminal defense attorney who served on the Intelligence Committee during Trump's first impeachment, told Axios.
