Trump charged over classified documents in 1st federal indictment of an ex-president
MIAMI (AP) — Donald Trump said Thursday that he was indicted for mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, a remarkable development that makes him the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges by the federal government that he once oversaw.
The indictment carries unmistakably grave legal consequences, including the possibility of prison if he’s convicted.
Video: Mark Levin reacts to Trump Indictment
The Justice Department did not immediately confirm the indictment publicly. But two people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to discuss it publicly said the indictment included seven criminal counts. One of those people said Trump’s lawyers were contacted by prosecutors shortly before he announced on his Truth Social platform that he had been indicted.
Within 20 minutes of his announcement, Trump began fundraising off it for his 2024 presidential campaign. He declared his innocence in a video and repeated his familiar refrain that the investigation is a “witch hunt.” He said he planned to be in court Tuesday afternoon in Miami, where a grand jury had been meeting to hear evidence as recently as this week.
Appearing Thursday night on CNN, Trump attorney James Trusty said the indictment includes charges of willful retention of national defense information — a crime under the Espionage Act, which polices the handling of government secrets — obstruction, false statements and conspiracy..
Prosecutors have said that Trump took roughly 300 classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, including some 100 that were seized by the FBI last August in a search of the home that underscored the gravity of the Justice Department’s investigation. Trump has repeatedly insisted that he was entitled to keep the classified documents when he left the White House, and has also claimed without evidence that he had declassified them.
Court records unsealed last year showed federal investigators believed they had probable cause that multiple crimes had been committed, including the retention of national defense information, destruction of government records and obstruction.
Since then, the Justice Department has amassed additional evidence and secured grand jury testimony from people close to Trump, including his own lawyers. The statutes governing the handling of classified records and obstruction are felonies that could carry years in prison in the event of a conviction.
It remains unclear how much it will damage Trump’s standing given that his first indictment generated millions of dollars in contributions from angry supporters and didn’t weaken him in the polls. But no matter what, the indictment -- and legal fight that follows -- will throw Trump back into the spotlight, sucking attention away from the other candidates who are trying to build momentum in the race.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Trump opponent in the primary, condemned the indictment on Twitter, saying it represented “the weaponization of federal law enforcement.”
The former president has long sought to use his legal troubles to his political advantage, complaining on social media and at public events that the cases are being driven by Democratic prosecutors out to hurt his 2024 election campaign. He is likely to rely on that playbook again, reviving his longstanding claims that the Justice Department — which, during his presidency, investigated whether his 2016 campaign had colluded with Russia — is somehow weaponized against him.
Trump’s legal troubles extend beyond the New York indictment and classified documents case.
Smith is separately investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. And the district attorney in Georgia’s Fulton County is investigating Trump over alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election in that state.
Wasn't Eugene Debbs convicted under the Espionage Act? And doesn't the same law prohibit the advocacy of destroying the American form of government, just as Trump did and does when he was involved in, and praises, the attack upon the United States Congress, Assembled? And he continues to undermine our institutions by accusing them of corruption as a whole, rather than pointing to specific evidence of misconduct. And their cries of elitism and deep state? Weren't John Adams, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln, Roosevelt and almost all of our great leaders from the so-called elite? (This Trump stuff sounds like Andrew Jackson, when he destroyed the National Bank, but Jackson was a great man.) It seems that the Republican party has become the party of Communists that believe in that government should be in the hands of the mob and masses, not by the more educated and experienced, and those with knowledge of US history and government. Look how far the party drifted from Eisenhower, Reagan, and we already know what the Bushes thought and think of this Putin Pinko lover that wants to make America Red. (Red Commie Pinkos, Fascist, Authoritarian, it's all the same deadly enemy of truth, justice and the American way).
ReplyDeleteAll you Trump supporters, remember what Burke, the father of conservatism said, a nation is a contract between those that are alive, those that are dead, and those yet to be born.
It is not the right of a single generation to overturn our institutions and the American system of government. Mine and your ancestors did not fight for and protect the American way of life to allow our puny generation to destroy it. America will endure.
I'm no Trump supporter but your comment is screaming "I'm a guy who reads too many editorials in liberal publications" It's just a rehash of the standard liberal talking points and using them as a very vague application to a very specific situation.
DeleteToo much information for Lakewood NJ
DeleteI never say anyone editorialize that Trump is a Communist. Nor have I read anyone praising Andrew Jackson. Aren't people taking down his statutes. Nor have I seen any so-called liberal quoting Burke. Nor I have I seen an liberal referring to American exceptionalism, which BTW, "screams out" in my comment. And did not the Founders fear giving power to the mob and created a series of checks and balances to prevent unbridled democracy. We are not a democracy but a republic. Who in the liberal media says that besides the so-called conservatives. Whoever accused me of not being an original thinker but someone that gets his information from reporters and the press, most of whom did not get their degree in history or government, must not understand what is at stake in the matter. It is the people who attacked the sovereign Congress, waving the flag, that believe in unfettered democracy, such that always leads to tyranny. And they talk about liberty? Freedom cannot exist under Communist, authoritarian, demagogic, fascist, or any of those enemy forms of government that the Constitutional tries to prevent, but won't, if a single generation is not worthy. It is like Franklin said when asked what kinds of government he gave us. "A republic, if you can keep it."
DeleteSomeone very close to me, who was sitting at the same table as George Bush, before Trump went rogue (if there ever was a time) what he thought of him. He turned all red, and Bush was the nicest guy with no ill feeling to anyone.
DeleteTrump has undermined every single institution he has touched. When he tried to buy up Atlantic City, he had his agents go to every big law firm in NJ for a consultation, so that the other casinos would not be able to hire them. They changed the rules because of his cheating so that lawyers warn potential clients that they might take the other side and not to give too much information. Remember what happened when the French discarded their institutions. By contrast, America and Britain have prospered and effected reform by slow legislative reform not with mob rule based on regard to tradition, not some liberal theory of how society should be shaped. It is only when the laws are stable that business and investment are secure. But this man has done nothing but create chaos. (that term describing him I got from the newspapers).
Anon 6:48 AM
Deletewell put.
The other commentor although his comments may have a bit of validity has been suffused with these sorts:The Republican Party has been trending fascist since at least the 1990s, if not since Dwight D. Eisenhower. They’re all fascists now, so it doesn’t much matter which one of them rises to power. But that said, Trump is a moron, and he can’t win the presidency again anyway. Meanwhile, DeSantis is the real deal—a true, honest-to-goodness fascist
Sure, sure. George H W Bush and his son are fascists. Sure. Romney is a fascist. Such stupidity. That is the problem with the non-elite. They just say things out of their stomach. Wrong, they are not fascists. No one said they are. Trump also is not a facist. He is a nothing. He is the only president to serve without any political beliefs. However, his narcissism of putting himself above country, above rules, has endangered the republic. Sure we survived. Trump is not clever enough to destroy the republic. But he might have taken about 50 years off it. Instead of perhaps enduring another 300 years, we might remain free for another 250. you saw how the army would not listen to him in the last days. In fact, I am unaware of a single officer that will follow an order to overthrow Congress. And the other commentator is right, Desantis, is much better because he is elite, despite his rhetoric, he is establishment, Yale, Harvard Law, Navy JAG, history teacher, baseball player, you can't get more American. The Republicans now are putting personality above country. And this is just recent. I have not heard of a single Republican out of office that supports Trump. Just the ignorant. BLM hoodlums did not attack or try to overthrow the government of the United States. Robert E. Lee, had the Confederates taken Washington, would never have done what the nutcases egged on by none other than the president did. Succession was not yet determined under the Constitution. Attacking the legislature is the worse sin possible in a republic. Remember how the Romans lost their freedom. The popular leader Augustus brought his soldiers into the Senate. He played like they were still free. He even allowed elections. But by the time he died, the princeps (emperor) controlled everything. You should develop your opinions on your own BUT ONLY after studying US history and government. And a little world history also helps, especially English and Roman.
DeleteThat's the problem with those that are not getting all this. It is the same reason the Founding Fathers only made the lower house democratic but not the Senate and presidency. Because too many people are not sufficiently educated in history and political philosophy (Locke, Montesquie, Mill, Federalist Papers, Supreme Court decisions etc.) That is why lawyers and history teachers have mostly served and not business people.
And, sorry, I was born American, actually fourth generation, and I am an old man. No one reads this post outside Lakewood anyway and I do not have to kiss up to anyone just because of Jewishness. And the bad outweighs the good with all the Skinheads and other haters that he embraces. And who are you to tell me about hakaros hatov when you are a resident of Lakewood? Here, hakaros hatov is just for politicians, but not for me.
due, you might be an old man but you need a lot of mussar. read any sefer about hakaras hatov. the list of good things trump did for the jews is longer than any other president even in your 100 years of life. rubashkin, abraham accords, federal prison reform (that freed non-violent offenders who were rotting away in prison for small-time crimes), moving the embassy, etc. etc.
Deleteand why on earth do you think people should have hakaras hatov to you? for being old?
I resent what these people he pardon do. They do not admit the gravity of their crimes and run around acting like they are righteous. I am not going to mention the answer to your last question. But what about the very incident that made Biden run, the Proud Boys stuff. Is he really better than Washington, Lincoln, Truman, or any other president after him? What about Nixon saving Israel in 1973, shipping more equipment in two days that the Commies did not two weeks? Is it so important to move an embassy that the hate is overlooked? And what do the musar books say about hatred? Aren't we better off in a nation in which people of every generation until now, although many might hate people who are of a minority race or religion, they have always been ashamed of it. Lately, hatred has become a badge of honor for all these fringe groups, and growing, and this man thrives on it. So is he really better because of those things you mention? Or is it that he is brings out the worse in everything he touches.
Delete1. andrew jackson is the only president in american history who actually committed genocide (trail of tears, native population). he was a terrible person and the worst president in american history.
ReplyDelete2. trump is a tremendous ohev yisroel who did more to help yidden in america and worldwide than any other president. whatever you feel about his personality and personal life, it is a terrible lack of hakaras hatov and disgraceful lack of any semblence of middos for frum yidden to be badmouthing him in public. you don't have to support him if you don't want but frum yidden in golus speaking badly of him publicly is a terrible show of achzarius and many other character flaws.
3. anyone who thinks republicans are fascists and democrats are not has not been paying attention at all for the last three-and-a-half years.
When Andrew Jackson made the trail of tears was not a genocide of American Indians. It was their forced removal from their ancestral homelands to new territory designated for them. It wasn't done for the sake of ethnic cleansing but rather because of the Indian harassment and murder of American pioneers. Terribly wrong as it was, it wasn't as wrong as it is currently depicted as having been in order to assign collective to all white Americans. Today you only hear the Indian point of view with the American pioneer point of view completely censored
DeleteToo much woke saturated propaganda
DeleteWorst president,eh?
He was of the most influential &
substantial antebellum presidents &
who saved the Union arguably
You are right. When SC issued the Articles of Nullification on the tariff, Jackson said that if any federal blood is spilled when collecting the tariff, he would take the man and personally hang him from the nearest tree. he was wrong about defying the Court and destroying the bank, but he modeled the modern presidency.
DeleteHakaros hatov seems to be just for politicians. Otherwise we standby when our elected official and others from our kehilla are roidif people like Lang and Zeev Rothschild (when he built the mikveh in 1990). Lecture us about hakaros hatov.
Deletehakaras hatov to president trump is nothing like "hakaras hatov" to local officials. boidem and klutz.
Deletethe cherokee were not harrassing and murdering anyone. they were the most westernized tribe in america and were minding their own business. they were moved because jackson wanted the land they were living on. this is not a new or woke take. it is simple facts of history. jackson was a jerk.
DeleteYou are right. The Five Civilized Tribes had their own written language, newspapers, property divided into lots, government formed on the American model, and won in the Supreme Court when Georgia tried to take away their land. Jackson said, "John Marshall made his decision, let him enforce it." It was a disgrace. But Jackson whooped the British like no American before him. He also seized Florida without permission from Washington when he was a general. And as I said, he destroyed the national bank ruining the dollar.
DeleteI want to weigh in on something. It seems that the kehilla has to support every incumbent because they do us favors. Sure. Accountability and good government does not matter. Doesn't matter that they are rodef me, demote me, prevent me from paranasa, for trying to bring billions of dollars to Lakewood and IY"H preventing it from collapsing under the weight of its debt and becoming ghost town because of the taxpayers' burden to pay back and fund the schools. The operating budget is now $250 million and the state wants us alone to pay it all. It seems that we must show hakaros hatov, even if the politicians destroy and don't act in the public interest, as long as they do favors. Lakewood redefined the word "gratitude." All over America, people show gratitude to neighbors, family, parents, teachers BUT a whole geographically constituency that a politicians anyway needs to be elected, the people should overlook bad government for hakaros hatov for the favors he does? Lakewood is the opposite. I have news for you, my billion dollars does more good for you than all your BOE members, its attorney, the township committee, the governor, the president, you name it, combined. Maybe some are roidef. It seems that Trump is entitled to gratitude for moving the embassy, pardoning some people that did some not good things, you have more than me; so much so you hate me, that you reelect a BOE that mamesh is rodef me, nay tries to sabotage for stepping upon what they consider their turf or because it breaks the political relationships they set up, meaning the hakaros hatov? And national news pales in comparison (as long as the republic survives or as long as we don't get into a war), that everyone is so interested in, to the school formula issue, the (I don't like the term but it makes the point) holy grail of Lakewood politics. And yet, it is ho-hum when I have to deal with the hatren, demotions, disrespect, and your BOE that has undermine med and taken the same position as my adversaries in Trenton. Yes, I understand. They are politicians and deserve our hakaros hatov. That sounds more like chanefa to me. A Lang
DeleteI can't even read one of the sentences. I think the computer submitted it by just shaking or something. Some of these sentences are incoherent like the briefs of somebody I know. who makes a lot of money for his gibberish. Point is that I only hear the term "hakaros hatov" for politicians but with the exception of a few, they do not act in the public interest, They have remained silent or outrightly opposed me. It is the opposite of "hakaros hatv" how they have acted. It really makes no difference because, b'syata d'maya, we will win anyway. Every setback was a blessing in disguise, so there must be a z'chus ha'rabbim. Still, it is the passive omission of the people of Lakewood handing absolute power into the hands of one man, who everyone is afraid to confront, is a disgrace. Hence, this Lakewood 'haros hatov" for politicians is nonsense.
DeleteExcept, that is, when we lost.
Delete& lose again
How exactly has Trump undermined any institution? The country is still running exactly as designed. In contrast, the Democrats have used the government against their foes. Starting with the IRS and its treatment of conservative charities to the FBI the Russian hoax, to the CDC announcing a vaccine after the election to the Justice dept relentless pursuit of Jan 6 participators and other Trump allies. How any sane person can say its the Republicans that are facist, must mean they don't understand the term and history. The gov't openly supported rioters and looters in the name of BLM, supported violent protests outside supreme court homes, yet somehow Jan 6 was a resurrection.
ReplyDeleteWe are not talking about using government or this or that. LBJ won election by cheating. When he lost the previous election because the other candidate cheated, he did not try to overthrow the government. Wrongs are wrongs. But the country should not be destroyed. America is strong enough to endure Trump but that does not mean he is not a public enemy.
DeleteTruth be told, elections don't make a difference. America is a stable republic. Jefferson, man with more accomplishments than anyone else, can boast of his greatest accomplishment was when he took office, everything remained the same (except the Aliens and Seditions Act). There was a smooth transition of power. How shameful that this generation no longer makes that its utmost priority. And to attack our institutions, attack the Congress, to put into people heads that our system of government is bad, (one of my friend even said, "A government that allows a corrupt election should be overthrown.") is a threat to us all that pales in comparison to the issues in one or another election, to people rioting in the steets or city (which has happened in every generation), or whatever wrong this or that party did.
LBJ didn't try to overthrow "the other candidate"? No, he actually had him killed.
Deleteand lbj, who created the modern welfare state, was a much bigger "pubic enemy" than trump. the damage he caused is still being heavily felt.
Yea. Such a public enemy. That why so many people in Lakewood are on his programs. He did not have anyone killed.
DeleteEvery one of those January 6 insurrectionist should serve in jail for defiling and desecrating the Capitol of the United States and for attempting to overthrow our sovereign branch of government. Face it, despite the rhetoric of all three branches being equal, the Congress is sovereign branch. It is when the executive attacks the legislature that freedom comes to an end, of course, only if the country decayed to the point that the army supports him (officers, unlike enlisted men, do not take an oath to follow the president's orders, but to follow the Constitution, which means following the president only if his orders are consistent with the Constitution) How can you say that there is something wrong with prosecuting January 6 people? Do yo u despise our form of government so much?
DeleteHow about those who had desecrated Tiananmen square as per China?They probably deserved what happened to them according to you?
DeleteI remember someone said that about the students in China when I was happening. But those people were protest, not overthrowing the government. Plus, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, China is a quasi-enemy. When the Soviets, or (Russians) our enemy, were overthrow, the people overthrew our enemy. It was good for us. This is not about morality. It is about America. Those people who attached the Congress are no different that the thugs that Julius Caesar, the ultimate scoundrel (albeit a great general and chief executive, a rare combination), hired to rig elections in Rome, and ultimately take power away from the Senate, the censors, and the elected assemblies that ensured freedom. Who cares about China? This is about America. America. Waving the flag like a goon is not what America is about. It's about freedom, about being a lighthouse to the world, our exceptionalism as a nation. It is our duty to preserve the republic. I don't know that every person in China has a duty to preserve the Communist sobs and I don't care. Mess with America, I will care.
DeleteIf your name is Sandy Berger, you can steal documents in your socks. If you're a republican, doesn't matter what your name is there's another set of rules. President Trump is no saint regardless
ReplyDeletef thought Berger was convicted. What do you mean he can do it? How is there another set of rules. And there is no conspiracy. If I was a prosecutor, I too would want to bring charges against him. Not because there are different rules, but because I hate him. I believe he belongs in jail and should never run again. Not because of Nancy Pelosi told me to do it, or Hillary Clinton or the guys who think the earth is flat. But because of me, and only me. These prosecutors make their own personal decisions, ostensibly based on the law, but sure, they want to chalk up the victory, especially against someone they, not their party, feel threatens public safety. And yes, political party shapes those beliefs, but it is still their own decision, not the Democrats, as if they all are secretly planning this. Don't you get it? People think as if everyone is colluding behind the scenes. Such nonsense. Maybe Deep Throat, the source not the other thing, can remain secret for decades because only Woodward and Bernstein might have known. But a whole party or its leaders? The whole NASA and 80,000 people involved in the Apollo program? Drug companies making vaccines? Stealing an election in 50 different states monitored by 100 independent political parties and every single news outlet? Even the cigarette executives were eventually exposed. Like duh, I am a member of the liberal media and I know about the cheating in an election but I am not going to report it and make a billion dollars for the story. Get real.
DeleteA.Sequoyah, who did everything to civilize
ReplyDeletethe Cherokees including the alphabet,father was Jewish.
That is how it actually came about.
B.Going after DeSantis for what? Being a part
of the establishment ? seriously ?
The whole gist of that screed is that they admit among themselves they hate him more than Trump
We will have a healthy population after reading these word salads that people produce when they get excited about elections and politics.
ReplyDeleteRabosai! Stop the politics obsession! It makes people lose their sechel, objectivity, middos and mentchlichkeit.
'The penalty for disinterest in politics is to be ruled by evil men.'
Deletealternatives would be preferable?
So now people are obsessed, and we are ruled by evil men.
DeleteGreat choice!