- James Trusty, one of Trump’s lawyers, said the charges include retaining defense documents, making false statements, obstruction and conspiracy.
- Trump declared his innocence in video, statements and on social media. His defenders called the case a political prosecution.
WASHINGTON − Donald Trump’s lawyers weren’t immediately given the seven-count indictment Thursday when the former president was summoned to federal court in Florida, but one of his lawyers outlined a summary of the charges.
James Trusty told CNN the charges allege violations under the Espionage Act, which applies to documents relating to national defense, the willful retention of documents, making false statements and several obstruction counts, including conspiracy to obstruct justice. Trusty wasn’t given the actual indictment, but a summary of the charges with a summons for the former president to appear in court.
“It doesn’t perfectly mirror an indictment but it does have some language in it that suggests what the seven charges would be,” Trusty said.
Trump declared his innocence in a video statement and in posts on social media. Trusty called the Espionage Act charge “ludicrous under the facts of this case.” He argued the false statement and obstruction charges are “kind of a crazy stretch just from the facts as we know it.”
“So there’s a lot to pick at eventually from the defense side, but that appears to be the charges and it appears to be something that will get off the ground on Tuesday,” Trusty said. “Everything about this case is absolutely rotten.”
Trump was indicted after federal authorities retrieved more than 300 classified documents that he took with him to Mar-a-Lago when he left the White House in January 2021.
After a year of exchanging letters with the National Archives and Records Administration, Trump returned 15 boxes in January 2022 that featured some classified documents including letters exchanged with North Korean leader Kim Jung Un. Prosecutors visited the estate in June with a subpoena and were given more classified documents, with a certification from Trump’s lawyers that those were all of them. But FBI agents seized more classified records during an August search.
The documents at stake had labels suggesting they held some of the country’s most closely guarded secrets about national defense and the identities of spies overseas. Federal officials have an audio recording from July 2021 of Trump discussing a classified Pentagon document about a possible attack on Iran, CNN reported, citing multiple unidentified sources.
Trump has argued repeatedly that he could take records with him after leaving the White House, despite the Presidential Records Act giving ownership to the National Archives and Records Administration, and that he had declassified them, despite the lack of documentation for his assertion.
“I have the absolute right to do whatever I want with them,” Trump said at a recent CNN town hall.
A conspiracy charge suggests other people could be indicted. Trusty said Trump’s team wasn’t notified of anyone else being indicted.
Trusty said he expects to receive the formal indictment sometime before the court appearance.
“If they want to continue to play games, they’ll give it to us at 3:01 p.m. Tuesday,” he said.
