Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday indicted by a federal grand jury for retaining classified government documents and obstruction of justice, according to American media reports.<\/p>\n
Trump, 76, faces seven charges including unauthorized retention of classified files, the reports said. The charges have not yet been made public.<\/p>\n
It is Trump\u2019s second indictment and the first-ever federal indictment of a former president.<\/p>\n
He is campaigning to make a return to the White House in 2024.<\/p>\n
Legal experts say the indictment will not limit Trump\u2019s ability to run for the presidency again.<\/p>\n
In a post on \u2018Truth Social\u2019 on Thursday, Trump said he was innocent and had been summoned to appear at a federal court in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday afternoon, where he will be arrested and hear the charges against him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former president of the United States,\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThis is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s attorney Jim Trusty told CNN the former president had received details of the charges in a summons document.<\/p>\n
He said they include conspiracy, false statements, obstruction of justice, and illegally retaining classified documents under the Espionage Act.<\/p>\n
The Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to comment and the indictment has not been publicly released.<\/p>\n
An indictment is a document that sets out details of charges against a person, ensuring they have notice of alleged criminal offenses.<\/p>\n
The Secret Service will meet Trump\u2019s staff and his security officers to plan his journey to the Miami courthouse.<\/p>\n
Special prosecutor Jack Smith has been considering the evidence in the documents case since he was appointed to oversee it by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November.<\/p>\n
Last year, Trump\u2019s Florida resort Mar-a-Lago was searched and 11,000 documents were seized, including around 100 marked as classified. Some of these were labelled top secret.<\/p>\n
There were reports last week that prosecutors had obtained an audio recording of Trump in which he acknowledged keeping a classified document after leaving the White House in January 2021.<\/p>\n
It is against US law for federal officials \u2013 including a president \u2013 to remove or keep classified documents at an unauthorized location.<\/p>\n
Legal experts say Trump would still be able to enter the White House race.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can be indicted any number of times and it won\u2019t stop his ability to stand for office,\u201d says David Super, a professor at Georgetown University Law Centre.<\/p>\n
Super noted that Trump could continue to run for office even if convicted in the documents case.<\/p>\n
What are the criminal charges against Donald Trump?<\/p>\n
The property and reality TV mogul is currently the frontrunner among Republican candidates for the White House, according to opinion polls.<\/p>\n
As Trump issued a fundraising email with the subject line \u201cBREAKING: INDICTED\u201d, several leading Republicans voiced their support for him.<\/p>\n
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said it was \u201cunconscionable for a president to indict the leading candidate opposing him\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHouse Republicans will hold this brazen weaponisation of power accountable,\u201d he wrote on Twitter.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s rival for the 2024 nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said: \u201cWe have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias and end weaponisation once and for all,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Vivek Ramaswamy, who is also in the running, said he would \u201ccommit to pardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025, and to restore the rule of law in our country\u201d.<\/p>\n
But another candidate, Asa Hutchinson, said Trump\u2019s alleged actions \u201cshould not define our nation or the Republican Party\u201d.<\/p>\n
A separate probe into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Trump lost, is also being overseen by Jack Smith, a former war crimes attorney who is known as a dogged investigator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday indicted by a federal grand jury for retaining classified government documents and obstruction of justice, according to American media reports. Trump, 76, faces seven charges including unauthorized retention of classified files, the reports said. The charges have not yet been made public. It is Trump\u2019s second indictment and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295546,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-336485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n