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The 49-page indictment against Donald Trump unsealed on Friday is a charging document of uncommon specificity, legal experts said.
Accusing him of mishandling government secrets and lying to authorities, US prosecutors showed boxes containing classified records piled high in a bathroom and alleged the former president shared details of a “plan of attack” with others.
The broad array of evidence gives the Department of Justice a strong case in proving the first federal criminal charges against a former president in US history. But its unprecedented nature makes the outcome unpredictable.
Jack Smith, a special counsel appointed by US attorney-general Merrick Garland, obtained charges against Trump on 37 criminal counts, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, concealing documents in a federal investigation and making false statements. The breadth of the indictment surprised legal analysts.
“What’s really stunning is the details” showing the sensitive nature of the documents and Trump’s handling of them, said David Alan Sklansky, a professor at Stanford Law School.
According to the indictment, Trump illegally brought classified documents, including information on US nuclear programmes and military vulnerabilities, to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving the White House in January 2021.
In one instance, Trump allegedly showed a US “plan of attack” against a foreign country to visitors, acknowledging that it was “highly confidential” and “secret”. An audio recording captured his comments, according to the indictment.
The justice department also accused the ex-president of seeking to avoid compliance with a subpoena that requested he hand over classified documents. “Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” Trump allegedly said, according to one of his lawyers cited in the indictment.
Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, on Friday called Smith “deranged” and said the charges were politically motivated. He said that he had “supplied [the records] openly”.
Speaking at a brief press conference, Smith on Friday urged the public to read the entire document “to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged”. The special counsel is also managing a probe involving Trump’s alleged interference in the transfer of power after the 2020 presidential…
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