The Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed the indictment on Friday, formally charging Trump with mishandling classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and trying to block the government from recovering the documents.
Officials say the documents ultimately recovered by the FBI last year detail highly classified secrets, including defense and weapons capabilities of the U.S. and allies, vulnerabilities of the American military and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed to lead the investigation last year, encouraged the public to read the indictment to "to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged."
"Our laws that protect national defense information are critical, the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced," he said. "Violations of those laws put our country at risk."
Trump has raged against the indictment, calling Smith a "deranged lunatic."
The former president also said he had "nothing to hide."
"Nobody said I wasn't allowed to look at the personal records that I brought with me from the White House," he wrote on Truth Social. "There's nothing wrong with that."
"There was no crime, except for what the DOJ and FBI have been doing against me for years," he added.
Trump allegedly shared some of the roughly 300 documents with other individuals at least twice, including in July 2021 when he was reportedly caught on a recording saying he knew at least one document was secret and that he didn't declassify it.
Republicans have jumped to defend Trump, pointing out that President Biden is also under investigation for allegedly keeping classified secrets that should have been returned when he ended his term as a vice president.
"I'm kind of curious how that weighs into the administration's decision to move forward with an indictment on the sitting president," said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).
Trump was also indicted in March by a Manhattan grand jury in a separate case for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
The former president faces two other high profile investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021, rioting at the U.S. Capitol, including one overseen by Smith.
We have more on the story at TheHill.com.
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