By PRFSU Writers 2023-2024 
Grant Golin
MIAMI, FL – On Thursday, June 8, Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States, was indicted by a grand jury on 37 federal charges for documents he kept at his Mar a Lago resort in Palm Beach. Trump is charged with 31 violations of the Espionage Act for withholding national defense information, five counts for concealing possession of classified documents, and one count for false statements made to the F.B.I. This marks the first time that an American president has faced federal charges.
On Friday, June 9, the 49-page indictment was unsealed. The indictment states that upon leaving office, Trump ordered that boxes of classified and top secret documents he was not authorized to possess be sent to Mar a Lago. These documents, “included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.” Photographs of boxes that included classified information stored in a Mar a Lago bathroom, ballroom, and storage room are also in the indictment.
The full indictment, with annotations, can be read here.
Following the public release of the indictment, special counsel Jack Smith delivered a brief statement. In his statement, Smith urged everyone to read the indictment, conveyed the severity of the charges, and indicated that the special counsel’s office would seek a speedy trial.
“Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced. Violations of those laws put our country at risk.”
“We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.”
The indictment also describes an audio recording of Trump in which he shows individuals who were writing a book on the former president’s last White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows a “plan of attack” prepared by the Department of Defense. He also tells the individuals in the recording that the plan was “highly confidential” and stated that as president he could have declassified the material but no longer could. A transcript of the conversation is found on page 15 of the indictment.
Trump: Well, with [the Senior Military Official] – uh, let me see that, I’ll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack [Country A]. Isn’t it amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this – this is off the record, but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.”
Writer: Wow.
Trump: We looked at some. This was him. This wasn’t done by me, this was him. All sorts of stuff – pages long, look.
Staffer: Mm.
Trump: Wait a minute, let’s see here.
Staffer: [Laughter] Yeah.
Trump: I just found, isn’t that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know.
Staffer: Mm-hm.
Trump: Except it is, like, highly confidential.
Staffer: Yeah. [Laughter]
Trump: Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this. You attack, and –
***
Trump: By the way. Isn’t that incredible?
Staffer: Yeah.
Trump: I was just thinking, because we were talking about it. And you know, he said, “he wanted to attack [Country A], and what…”
Staffer: You did.
Trump: This was done by the military and given to me. Uh, I think we can probably, right?
Staffer: I don’t know, we’ll, we’ll have to see. Yeah, we’ll have to try to –
Trump: Declassify it.
Staffer: – figure out a – yeah.
Trump: See as president I could have declassified it.
Staffer: Yeah. [Laughter]
Trump: Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.
Staffer: Yeah. [Laughter] Now we have a problem.
Trump: Isn’t that interesting?
The former president was also charged with attempting to obstruct special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation by instructing his lawyer to make false statements to the F.B.I. that he did not have documents requested by a grand jury subpoena; directing one of his senior aides who was also indicted, Waltine Nauta, to move boxes of documents to conceal them; suggesting that his attorney destroy documents. He was also charged with turning over just some of the subpoenaed documents to the F.B.I. and grand jury, and having his attorney submit a statement to the F.B.I. and grand jury that all documents in the subpoena had been returned.
One of Trump’s attorneys, Evan Corcoran, was ordered to testify before the grand jury in Washington, DC because a federal judge determined that Trump had possibly asked Corcoran to commit a crime, meaning that attorney-client privilege did not apply. Corcoran, referred to as “Trump Attorney 1” in the indictment, recounted statements the former president made after receiving a subpoena for the documents in the F.B.I.’s investigation.
Trump: I don’t want anybody looking, I don’t want anybody looking through my boxes, I really don’t, I don’t want you looking through my boxes.
Well, what if we, what happens if we just don’t respond at all or don’t play ball with them?
Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?
Well look isn’t it better if there are no documents?
Trump’s lawyers and Walt Nauta, the former president’s co-defendant, are accused of making false statements to investigators by having Trump’s attorneys turn in certified statements to investigators that a diligent search for the subpoenaed documents had been conducted and that all documents requested by the subpoena had been turned over. This, and surveillance footage obtained by the F.B.I. from Mar a Lago showing the movement of boxes of documents after the subpoena was received, prompted the F.B.I. to obtain a search warrant for documents with classification markings that was executed on August 8, 2022.
In a Fox News appearance this past Sunday, Bill Barr, who served as Trump’s attorney general, said, “If even half of [the indictment] is true then he’s toast. It’s a very detailed indictment and it’s very, very damning.”
On Tuesday, June 13, Trump was taken into custody of federal law enforcement in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida and appeared before Jonathan Goodman, a magistrate judge. His attorney entered a plea of not guilty. Judge Aileen Cannon is expected to preside over the trial. However, some have questioned rulings she made early on in the investigation that were deferential toward Trump and overruled by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, such as appointing a “special master” to review the documents before the investigation could proceed. These questions raise the possibility that Cannon may not ultimately oversee the trial.