Former President Donald Trump was indicted as part of a federal investigation into the 2024 GOP frontrunner’s retention of troves of classified documents from his time in the White House, the former president said on Truth Social Thursday night. CNN subsequently confirmed he has been indicted.
Trump’s attorneys were notified on Wednesday that the former president was a target of an investigation regarding the classified materials. A federal grand jury has been investigating Trump’s retention of classified materials and the Justice Department’s notification of an ongoing investigation often coincides with the opportunity to present evidence before such a grand jury.
Trump has been indicted on at least seven charges, including illegal retention of classified documents, obstruction, and conspiracy,” according to ABC News.
The investigation surrounds a raid on Trump’s private Florida residence in August of 2022, when federal authorities seized some 13,000 documents from Mar-a-Lago. At least one hundred of those documents were reportedly marked classified and Trump had later been caught on tape discussing a document in his possession and noting he couldn’t share its contents as he had no right to declassify it since leaving office.
Trump’s saga with the documents began back in January of 2022 when he handed over some 15 boxes after they were requested by the National Archives. According to the Presidential Records Act of 1978, all materials related to a president’s time in office are public property and must be handed over to the National Archives for preservation.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Mediaite