Donald Trump has been charged with 37 counts in relation to the mishandling of records at Mar-a-Lago as well as his efforts to block the government from recovering the documents.
An indictment unsealed by the Justice Department Friday underscores the high-level material the former president kept after leaving office, the times he improperly shared it with those without clearances and the extent he sought to block any efforts to retrieve them.
The filing indicates Trump weighed a number of methods to avoid returning them, asking his attorney to “hide or destroy” the documents in his possession following a June subpoena last year.
“The classified documents Trump stored in his boxes 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,” the filing states.
“The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods.”
The filing details two specific instances where Trump is alleged to have shared highly sensitive materials with individuals at his Bedminster, N.J., club who did not have security clearances.
The first came in July 2021, when Trump is said to have shown and described a “plan of attack” prepared for him by Pentagon officials while in the White House. The meeting, which was with a writer, publisher and two staff members, was recorded. CNN earlier Friday reported on the transcript of the audio, which included Trump acknowledging the document was secret and that he did not declassify it while he was president.
The filing details a second incident in August or September of 2021 in which Trump showed a representative of his political action committee who did not possess a security clearance a classified map related to a military operation. Trump is said to have told the associate during the meeting at his Bedminster, N.J., club that he should not be showing it to the person and that they should not get too close.
The filing also alleges that Trump tried to obstruct the FBI and grad jury investigations and conceal his continued possession of classified documents by suggesting his attorney falsely represent to the FBI that he did not have the documents in question.
Prosecutors also alleged Trump directed Walt Nauta, a longtime aide also charged in the case, to move boxes of documents to conceal them, suggested his attorney hide or destroy documents included in a grand jury subpoena and falsely claiming he had turned over all the necessary documents while knowing that was not the case.