Trump proposed hiding or destroying the secret documents he took from the White House

The Department of Justice "opened" to the public the document indicting Donald Trump for the Mar-a-Lago documents. Specifically, there are 37 charges, of which 31 are linked to the intentional retention of documents on national defense classified as secret or confidential, in contempt of the espionage law, and another six for crimes of conspiracy to impede the action of justice, block government action to recover those papers, falsification of documents or testimonies. Should he go to trial and be convicted, the prison sentence could add up to several decades.

Along with the former president, Waltine Auta, the military man and personal assistant to Trump who was the executor of the transfers of the documents and their concealment on his boss's property, has also been charged.

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Fernando Garcia

The ruling by special counsel Jack Smith underscores the high level of material that Trump took from the White House and stored in the ballroom of his Florida mansion, without any care that anyone who came to his club could have access. to those secret and more than sensitive papers for national security.

He also explains that some of these materials, such as one initially linked to an attack on Iran, the former president had them taken to his residence in Bedminstre, New Jersey, where he is now, and exhibited them without any problem in a interview given to the author of a book about his presidency. In that meeting, which is recorded, the host acknowledged that this material was secret and that at that time "I cannot declassify it."

Prosecutors accuse Trump of 37 counts

The indictment details how Trump considered and ordered a whole series of methods to avoid returning those documents. He even asked his lawyers "not to return, hide or destroy them" after receiving a court request to refer them to the national archives.

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Marina Meseguer

“The classified documents stored in boxes by Trump include information about the defense capabilities and weapons of both the United States and foreign countries, about nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies in a military attack, as well as possible plans for retaliation. in response to that foreign attack”, picks up the text.

Along these lines, he pointed out that "the unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, international relations, the security of the US military and human sources, and the viability of continuing with methods of collecting sensitive intelligence information." ”.

It details two specific rooms where Trump allegedly accumulated this sensitive material that he took from the White House, both in Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster, without the people who had access having the mandatory security authorization.