Donald Trump announced today that he has been indicted over unauthorised retention of classified files. The charges are the most serious legal threat yet to Trump, who is facing several investigations as he considers a run for re-election in 2024.
Here are 5 facts on this big story:
A federal grand jury has charged Donald Trump with seven criminal counts related to his handling of classified documents. The documents, which were discovered last year at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, included sensitive national security information.
The former commander-in-chief, who was impeached twice, is now the first former US president to face federal criminal charges, signalling major implications for his political future as he seeks re-election.
The FBI seized over 11,000 documents from Mar-a-Lago in August with Trump facing obstruction of justice charges for resisting efforts to recover the documents. He eventually turned over 15 boxes containing almost 200 classified documents to the National Archives in January 2022.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, "I am an innocent man. The Biden administration is totally corrupt. This election interference and a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time. Make America Great Again!"
Trump, 76, has been charged with dozens of financial crimes, including an alleged scheme to pay hush money to an adult film star who claimed to have had an affair with him. The criminal trial is scheduled to begin in March 2024, just when the US primary election season will be in full swing.
