Donald Trump is our most indicted president.
A federal grand jury charged Trump Thursday with seven total counts regarding his alleged mishandling of classified documents and efforts to obstruct the government from retaining them. The indictment is a whopping 37 counts, and Trump is charged with violating the Espionage Act, making false statements and obstruction.
Last November, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate Trump’s handling of the documents. He is the first former president to face federal charges.
The indictment reaches back to January 2021, when Trump was leaving office. Boxes of documents were shipped to Mar-a-Lago, his home and resort in Florida, along with other materials from his time in the White House. That May, the National Archives and Records Administration notified Trump’s attorneys that he may have improperly taken government records. After months of negotiations, Trump’s lawyers arranged for 15 of the boxes to be sent back to Washington D.C. Archivists found that 14 of the boxes contained classified papers.
That sparked an investigation into whether Trump mishandled the documents. Though Trump’s team insisted he had returned all classified materials–one of Trump’s attorneys signed an attestation in June 2022 that no other documents were at Mar-a-Lago–the Justice Department gathered evidence that documents were still being withheld.
Last August, federal agents raided Mar-a-Lago, and found more than 100 additional classified papers in a storage room and Trump’s office.
While Trump has proclaimed his innocence, his team’s efforts to stonewall the investigation failed. He’s slated to appear in court in Miami Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.
On Friday, CNN obtained audio of a 2021 meeting in which Trump boasted about retaining “secret” military information that he hadn’t declassified, directly contradicting his claims of innocence.
Earlier this year, local prosecutors in New York filed 30 more than 30 felony charges against Trump in relation to his hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts.
In addition, Trump is being investigated by a Georgia prosecutor regarding his efforts to overturn the state’s election results in 2020. In a taped phone call, Trump pressured a Georgia official to “find” him enough votes to win the state, which he lost to Joe Biden.
Oh, and Trump is also being investigated for his actions around Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters raided the Capital in an effort to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election.
The clear front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential race, Trump’s legal issues promise to hang over his entire campaign. Sad!
Scroll down for reaction to Trump’s ongoing woes…
People were coming up to me, grown men with tears in their eyes, and saying, “Sir, no president has ever been indicted as many times as you.”
— Rob (@n0_pROBlem) June 9, 2023
Mister P
I’m not sure we should rejoice that trump has been indicted, but we can be happy that we are a country of laws and no one is above them.
abfab
Except for the rich.
dbmcvey
I’m happy he’s been indicted; I’ll rejoice when he’s convicted.
abfab
Imagine the jubilation when he croaks. One might observe The Pat Robertson Celebration as a precursor to The Trump Funeral Festival Extravaganza and imagine the planning and the catering!
ScottOnEarth
Why shouldn’t we be happy? In case you haven’t noticed, trump is a lying, stealing grifter, bigot, homophobe, transphobe and career criminal. It’s always good when justice is served.
greekboy
I’m sure there is some culture where the punishment for lying is cutting out the liar’s tongue. I’d pay 25 cents to watch
Tombear
Can you imagine when Trump is sent to prison there will be gay parties and picnics everywhere!
inbama
Don’t party just yet.
Trump’s facing a judge that he appointed, and she’s the same judge who wanted a “special master” to oversee the documents.
Still Trump indicted, the Alabama election map thrown out, Robertson dead, and puberty blockers blocked in Britain – if it weren’t for the Canadian ash blanket, it would definitely be a good week.
Kangol2
I’ll agree with you on everything here, including your thoughts about that Don the Con judge, except for the puberty blockers being blocked but yes, some good things did happen this week.
Robertson on his way to Hell certainly is high on the list!
Fahd
Looking ahead, as a convicted felon, Trump would not be able to vote in Florida, but he would be able to run for, and if elected, serve as president of the United States.
Can’t the Republicans in Congress get on board with a law prohibiting him from running?
abfab
Maureen Dowd (read the rest if you can–she’s always the bomb)
Opinion Columnist NYT
WASHINGTON — It’s shocking how easy it is to imagine Donald Trump campaigning for the presidency from prison.
He’d have the joint wired, like the mob guys in “Goodfellas.” He’d be enjoying all kinds of privileges, DJing Elvis and Pavarotti; getting a steady flow of Viagra, cheeseburgers and conjugal visits (not from Melania). Maybe he’d even be able to smuggle in his special Tang-colored hair bleach.
Openminded
Trump deserves his punishment, no questions about it. I do have to wonder if it was the smartest move for the Dems to time this indictment to where it would interfere with Trumps presidential run. Hopefully Trump will be found guilty and his house of cards will fall in time to squash his run for office. The downside of the timing could be that enough of the Trump Cult snaps out of it and decides to get behind a possible good independent candidate and thus help elect the first non Dem or Rep president. Trumps antics may very well leave the GOP in shambles, but don’t believe for one second that it will result in “former” Trumpsters as well as other Conservatives suddenly voting for a liberal candidate. IMHO, the smart party won’t play to beat the competition down, they will play to raise themselves above and win by having people want to vote FOR them instead of AGAINST the other guy.