Trump faces seven counts in classified documents indictment. Here's what we know
Trump charged under Espionage Act in secret files case. Here's what is in the indictment
(about 4 hours later)
A Mar-a-Lago storage room against which dozens of boxes were stacked
Federal prosecutors have unsealed a 38-count indictment against former President Donald Trump accusing him of mishandling classified documents.
The 49-page charge sheet includes 31 separate counts of wilful retention of national defence information under the Espionage Act.
The charges arise from hundreds of documents Mr Trump kept at his Florida home after leaving the White House.
The files include information on US and its allies' weapons capabilities.
Prosecutors say Mr Trump took about 300 classified files to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, after leaving the White House.
About 100 of those - some labelled top secret - were seized when the FBI searched the Palm Beach mansion last August.
The indictment notes that Mar-a-Lago, a golf club in Palm Beach, hosted events for tens of thousands of members and guests.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the investigation, will make a statement on Friday about the case at his office in Washington DC.
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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 to plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack."
Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago club "was not an authorised location" for the "storage, possession, review, display or discussion" of classified documents, the indictment says.
Nevertheless, it continues, Mr Trump's boxes of documents were stored in places at the club including "a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room".
On two occasions in 2021, the former president showed classified documents to others who did not have security clearance, including a writer and two members of staff.
At his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, he showed and described a "plan of attack" that he said had been prepared for him by the Defence Department.
"As president I could have declassified it. Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret," Mr Trump allegedly said, according to an audio recording.
Watch: 'I did nothing wrong. We'll fight this out.'
Watch: 'I did nothing wrong. We'll fight this out.'
Watch: 'I did nothing wrong. We'll fight this out.'
Watch: 'I did nothing wrong. We'll fight this out.'
Former US President Donald Trump is facing criminal charges over his handling of classified documents after he left the White House.
The second time the indictment states that Mr Trump showed classified documents to others was "in August or September 2021", at the Bedminster club.
The details of the charges related to files found at his Mar-a-Lago home in August 2022 have not been released.
The former US president "showed a representative of his political action committee who did not possess a security clearance a classified map".
But Mr Trump's attorney, Jim Trusty, confirmed seven counts, including an espionage charge and several obstruction and false statement charges. He described them as "ludicrous".
This map "related to a military operation" and Trump told the representative that "he should not be showing it" to them and they "should not get too close".
We will find out more when Mr Trump appears in a Miami court on Tuesday, but here is what we know so far.
The indictment says Mr Trump tried to obstruct the FBI inquiry by suggesting that his lawyer "hide or destroy" the documents or falsely tell investigators that the former president did not have them.
He will be charged under the Espionage Act
Mr Trump's personal aide at Mar-a-Lago, Waltine Nauta, is also charged. The indictment says the former White House military valet moved files to hide them from the FBI.
Mr Trump will be charged with wilful retention of national defence information, according to his lawyer.
It is against US law for federal officials - including a president - to remove or keep classified documents at an unauthorised location.
While espionage has sinister connotations of spying and skulduggery, it is the kind of charge that has also been used in the past to prosecute individuals who have been criminally careless with important government documents.
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Mr Trump has repeatedly said he "declassified" documents before bringing them home. But Bradley Moss, a national security lawyer, says that argument won't hold up against the Espionage Act, which does not actually refer to classifications such as "Top Secret".
Instead, the government must prove that the information was a matter of national defence. Mr Moss says the government has always succeeded in doing so in similar cases.
Prosecutors must prove Trump acted wilfully
The biggest challenge facing prosecutors is whether they can prove Mr Trump knowingly and intentionally violated the law, according to David Super, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
He said Mr Trump's defence team was likely to argue the former president was just a "really bad file clerk".
"Wilful retention is not accidental, negligent, or reckless," according to the Journal of National Security Law and Policy. "Rather, a defendant only retains NDI wilfully if he or she knows he or she possesses it and knows that such possession is prohibited due to the nature of the information."
There were reports last week that prosecutors had obtained an audio recording of Mr Trump in which he acknowledged keeping a document detailing US invasion plans for Iran but could not share it because it was classified.
If true, Professor Super says, that could be evidence that Mr Trump understood exactly how declassification works, "and that the document that he apparently was gesturing towards was still classified".
Trump is accused of obstructing justice
In an interview with CNN on Thursday evening, Mr Trump's lawyer said the summons they had received from federal prosecutors included several other charges linked to the initial Espionage Act count.
Mr Trusty said there were "several obstruction-based type charges and then false statement charges". He described all of the counts as "kind of a crazy stretch".
Experts say these charges would be built around the allegation that the former president did not fully co-operate with a federal subpoena instructing him to turn over all the classified material in his possession.
Mr Trump's aides provided the government with boxes containing 222 classified documents last year. When the FBI executed a search warrant of Mar-a-Lago in August, however, agents discovered an additional 103 classified documents, including 18 marked "Top Secret".
There have also been reports that prosecutors have sought surveillance tapes from Mr Trump's Florida home, which could contain video evidence of documents - or boxes - being moved or accessed.
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Someone else was involved, say prosecutors
On Thursday evening, Mr Trusty, one member of the extensive Trump legal team, confirmed that the multiple counts brought by prosecutors included a conspiracy charge. He provided no other details.
The special counsel investigation has included a focus on Mr Trump's lawyers, some of whom signed off on documents that said the former president had provided all the subpoenaed classified material - a claim that ended up not being accurate given the discoveries during the Mar-a-Lago search.
The accounts of aides and lawyers for the former president could be cited as evidence against Mr Trump. Their testimony could include whether they told Mr Trump that he had to return subpoenaed documents or advised Mr Trump not to issue what they might have viewed as misleading statements.
It could also raise the possibility that one of the indicted individuals might, when confronted with the prospect of fines or prison, feel motivated to co-operate with prosecutors, strengthening the case against the former president.
If convicted, Trump could go to prison
The criminal penalties Mr Trump would face depend on the exact nature of the charges brought against him.
An obstruction of justice charge includes fines and a recommended sentence of "not more than 20 years" - but usually much less. Espionage Act violations result in fines and prison for up to 10 years.
Nothing in federal law or the constitution would prevent Mr Trump from continuing to campaign for president if he is indicted on federal charges. His campaign has continued unabated after he was indicted in a different case by a New York City prosecutor in April.
Additional reporting by Madeline Halpert and Robin Levinson-King
