On Thursday evening, the nation learned that Donald Trump had been indicted for his mishandling of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago. These charges come as part of one of two investigations being conducted by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed in November to handle both the classified documents investigation and an investigation into Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Reports indicate that Trump faces a total of seven charges, including a violation of the Espionage Act. According to news sources, those charges are:
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Willful retention of national defense information
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Conspiracy to obstruct justice
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Withholding a document or record
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Corruptly concealing a document or record
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Concealing a document in a federal investigation
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Scheme to conceal
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False statements and representations
Trump is expected to report to the federal courthouse in Miami, Florida, at 3 PM ET on Tuesday.
News of the indictment first came from Trump himself, who published a three-part rant on his failing Truth Social media platform, then followed it up with a statement that was identical to that rant, then made an angry, red-eyed appearance in front of cameras. While the charges themselves were filed under seal by Smith’s team at the Department of Justice, numerous news accounts have confirmed the scope of those charges.
The total potential sentence connected to these charges is 100 years. In recent years, a federal contractor charged with willful retention of national defense information after taking home defense documents was sentenced to nine years in federal prison. A more typical sentence for that single charge is around five years.
It’s not known who was involved with Trump in the conspiracy charges. Recent news accounts have suggested that a number of former Trump staffers, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows, may have “flipped” and agreed to testify against Trump in exchange for reduced charges for their own violations. This has not been confirmed.
Trump’s Tuesday appearance in Miami is likely to be similar to his recent indictment in New York. He will appear before a federal judge, enter his official plea, and likely be released. It’s now known that the judge will be Aileen Cannon, a Trump-appointed judge who went to extraordinary lengths to help Trump in the earlier parts of this case. It seems highly unlikely that Cannon will place restrictions on Trump’s travel or statements.
Timeline of events
In May 2021, the National Archives realized that they were missing a great deal of material that should be among the presidential records when Trump left the White House, and contacted Trump’s attorneys in an attempt to recover this material. Despite repeated requests, no material was returned for the remainder of 2021.
In January 2022, NARA was finally able to collect 15 boxes of material, which were shipped to them from Mar-a-Lago. While this contained some of the items they were expecting, other key documents were still missing. The boxes also contained all or part of several classified documents as well as folders for other documents that were not found. Because of the presence of this classified material as well as the missing documents, NARA contacted the FBI and informed them that Trump was holding classified documents and remained in violation of the Presidential Records Act. NARA offered to show the classified documents it had retrieved to the FBI, but Trump’s attorneys objected, delaying the transfer of material until August.
On May 11, the DOJ subpoenaed Trump for all classified materials. Following this, workers at Mar-a-Lago moved boxes of documents into a storeroom, where their actions were captured on security videos. One worker admitted to moving these boxes on express orders from Trump.
On June 2, Trump staffers and Mar-a-Lago workers removed some of that material from a storeroom where Trump had agreed to store documents NARA was still attempting to recover. Their movements were caught on security cameras that showed them removing documents from the room. It’s not known what happened to this material.
On June 3, representatives of the FBI and DOJ came to Mar-a-Lago and were given a single slim folio containing 38 classified documents. Trump attorney Evan Corcoran formally stated that all classified material had been returned. However, the FBI was concerned about other boxes of records it saw on this visit and was informed by confidential informants that there were more classified documents.
On Aug. 8, the FBI searched the storeroom and Trump’s private office at Mar-a-Lago and found more classified documents as well as folders for classified documents that were not found. The total number of government documents found exceeded 13,000. At least 103 were classified, including highly classified national defense materials related to the nuclear program of a non-allied country thought to be Iran.
Following their removal, Trump acted repeatedly to delay examination of the material through the courts, issuing multiple public statements maintaining that the FBI had been trying to cover up for Hillary Clinton, or that the search was part of the “Russia hoax.” Trump’s legal team took their case to Trump-appointed federal judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that a “special master” should be appointed to review the documents before any could be considered by the Department of Justice. Much of September and October were consumed by Trump’s appeals and efforts to delay review of the documents, including an effort to bring the Supreme Court into the decision and repeated efforts to push back the clock by Trump’s legal team—efforts with which Cannon readily agreed.
By the end of October, the DOJ made it clear they believed Trump was still holding classified documents as well as material that should be returned to NARA. However, Trump was also indicating that he was preparing to announce his official entry into the race for the 2024 election. Assistants to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland indicated that considering the complexities of the situation, the ongoing investigation into Trump’s involvement in Jan. 6 events, and his impending candidacy, appointment of a special counsel was likely.
On Nov. 18, Garland named Jack Smith as special counsel to deal with both the documents case and the still-expanding case related to the 2020 election.
Presidential Records Act
Trump has repeatedly stated that he was allowed to take anything he wanted from the White House due to the Presidential Records Act. This is exactly the reverse of the law. The Presidential Records Act was put in place following the resignation of Richard Nixon and was specifically enacted to prevent the removal of documents that might be historically significant or might be evidence in a criminal case.
Trump’s attorneys have maintained that the act allows presidents to designate documents of being “of a personal nature;” however, they’ve omitted that all such documents have to first be turned over to NARA. Trump’s refusal to return documents, even those he might consider personal, places him in violation of the Presidential Records Act.
Trump and his attorneys have also maintained that the Presidential Records Act “has no criminal penalties.” However, that’s because the act references other laws that contain criminal charges related to mishandling of government documents.
Declassification
One of the most important aspects of the charges against Trump concerns how documents are declassified. Trump has maintained that a president can declassify a document by simply stating it, or even by “thinking about it.”
However, there is a process for declassification, especially for documents that are connected to national defense or those based on human intelligence in locations where revealing the identity of a source could place them in danger.
Testimony showed that Trump was aware of proper process to declassify documents and used this process on multiple occasions, including in the days just before leaving the White House. A recording reported by CNN indicates Trump was aware he had not declassified the material he was holding and no longer had the authority to declassify it. Another recording, made during a meeting at Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf property, showed that he was aware the documents he was holding included highly classified national defense information.
What’s in the documents
Even the titles of most of the material Trump removed from the White House remained classified, so an exact estimate of the potential damage is difficult to know. It’s known that Trump originally held over 300 classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, with about half of those being returned in the boxes that were sent to the National Archives in January 2022.
Of the over 100 documents recovered by the FBI in the August search, roughly one-quarter were classified as top secret or higher. These included “compartmentalized” documents that were supposed to be viewed by only a select list. Two documents were marked "confidential." Fifteen were marked “secret.” Seven were marked "top secret."
There have been multiple indications—including from that meeting at Bedminster—that at least one of these documents contained national defense information related to a potential war with Iran, and with Iran’s potential to develop nuclear weapons.
It’s not known how many of the other classified documents were related to national defense, or what damage Trump’s handling of these documents may have done to U.S. intelligence. Even during a trial, it’s likely that information about many of these documents will remain limited.
In addition to the documents found by the FBI, there were a number of folders for documents that were not located. Other documents that Trump was believed to be holding have still not been found. That includes a four-page document prepared for Trump as part of the Iran information, a document Trump talked about showing to others at Bedminster, but which has not been located. The possibility that Trump may have revealed these documents to others, or even exchanged information in return for money or other favors, remains one of the greatest potentials for additional charges.
[Note: An earlier version of this story had an incorrect date for the incident in which Mar-a-Lago workers moved boxes from the storeroom.]