Miami, June 8 (EFE).- Former US president Donald Trump said Thursday night that he has been indicted over his handling of classified documents, making him the first-ever former president to face federal criminal charges.
“The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The details of the seven-count indictment have not yet been made public, but comes as Trump is favorite to win the Republican nomination in a bid to make a return to the White House in 2024.
“I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM. I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States,” Trump wrote. “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors notified Trump’s attorneys he that is the target of an investigation into his handling of classified materials.
The Department of Justice typically instructs prosecutors to notify those who are being investigated, giving them the opportunity to respond before a grand jury, US media said.
The reaction of the ex-president to Thursday’s indictment was defiant.
He lashed out at President Joe Biden, accusing him without basis of having 1,850 boxes of files in various locations, including “documents strewn all over his garage floor where he parks his Corvette.”
“This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a Country in serious and rapid Decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!” he wrote.
Last year, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort was searched and 11,000 government documents were seized, including around 100 marked as classified and some labeled secret and top secret.
It is against the law for federal officials to keep classified documents at unauthorized locations.
It is now the second case Trump has become a defendant in.
In April he became the first US president in history to be charged with a crime, pleading not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records over an alleged hush-money scheme prosecutors said he carried out to boost his 2016 electoral chances. EFE
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