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Former U.S. president Donald Trump has been indicted on seven federal criminal charges in relation to hundreds of confidential government records found at his Florida property after he left the White House.
Trump announced on his Truth Social's posts (a social media platform) that he was summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday (U.S. time).
Details and specifics of his charges have not been made public, CNN reported.
However, citing an unnamed source, the New York Times said the charges include wilfully retaining national defence secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and making false statements.
This is the second time in recent months that Trump has faced legal charges, having been indicted on state charges for his alleged role in paying hush money to an adult film actress.
In May 2023, he was found liable for the sexual abuse of writer E Jean Carroll in a civil lawsuit.
First U.S. former president to face federal charges
This is the first time in U.S. history that a former president has faced federal criminal charges.
According to his attorney Jim Trusty, Trump was charged under the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, destruction or falsification of records, conspiracy and false statements.
Trusty told CNN that Trump's attorneys received a summon through an email from the Justice Department on Thursday (Friday Singapore time) listing the charges, but the actual indictment has yet to be seen.
Trusty called the Espionage charge "ludicrous".
News of Trump's indictment was tightly held by the special counsel. The U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Marshals did not get prior notice and were reportedly surprised to hear Trump's announcement on his social media platforms.
Law enforcement is scrambling to move their resources to prepare for Trump's court appearance next week.
"Greatest witch hunt"
Trump is maintaining that he is innocent.
He alleged that the entire indictment was a hoax and is an "election interference".
He also said (without evidence) that the Biden Administration is "totally corrupt" and that this is a "continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time".
Classified documents
Prosecutors have been investigating the transfer of files to Trump's Mar-a-Lago Florida estate since August last year.
According to Reuters, about 11,000 government records were found on Trump's property. Among these, 18 were labelled "top secret", 54 were labelled "secret", and 31 were labelled "confidential".
Documents are classified as "top secret" if they are deemed to potentially cause grave damage to national security if their content were released.
Documents labelled as "secret" contain information that would cause serious damage if they were released. Meanwhile, "confidential" is the lowest category of classified information currently in use.
There were also 90 empty folders found, 48 of which were labelled "classified".
Violated three laws
Earlier this month, CNN reported that prosecutors have obtained an audio recording from 2021 of Trump acknowledging that he was holding onto classified government documents after leaving the White House.
The U.S. defines classified documents as information that could damage national security if improperly released.
According to U.S. federal law, it is illegal to intentionally move classified documents to an unauthorised location.
The prosecutors deemed that the 11,000 documents found in Trump's Florida estate have violated three laws with code numbers 793, 1519, and 2071.
Law code number 793 prevents unauthorised possession of national defence information, classified or not. A person found guilty under this code will be imprisoned for not more than 10 years.
Law code number 1519 states that anyone who willingly destroys or conceals any documents that may influence government investigation or administration is liable to up to 20 years in prison.
Law code number 2071 makes it illegal for anyone to hold onto, unlawfully remove, or conceal official government records. Anyone found guilty under this code will be imprisoned for not more than three years. The person must also forfeit his office and will be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.
Running for presidency
In November last year, it was announced that Trump will be running for the 2024 U.S. presidency.
According to CNN, Trump is leading in opinion polls to be the Republican Party's 2024 candidate for president.
Trump has maintained his innocence despite his legal troubles.
On Apr. 4, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in a case linked to hush-money payments to two women.
On May 9, New York jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E Jean Carroll in a civil lawsuit.
In his Truth Social posts, Trump alleged that he was being "witch hunt[ed]".
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Top image via Mandel Ngan/Getty Images.