In a significant development, former US President Donald Trump has been indicted on multiple federal criminal charges relating to his handling of classified documents during his tenure.
Trump, making history as the first former US President to face federal criminal charges, made the announcement through his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday.
Referring to the boxes of documents he had transported from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, which reportedly contained classified files, Trump stated, "I have been indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax."
In subsequent posts and a video message, Trump vehemently declared his innocence, employing his characteristic use of capital letters for rhetorical effect.
Currently situated at his Bedminster residence in New Jersey, the former President, in consultation with his advisors, is scheduled to make an appearance at the federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday afternoon. At that time, the indictment will be unsealed, revealing the specific charges against him.
According to reports from US media outlets, Trump is facing a total of seven criminal charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and willful retention of documents.
Trump has wasted no time in framing the indictment as a politically motivated move by President Joe Biden, who defeated him in the 2020 White House race. As Trump pursues his bid for the presidency in 2024, where he is considered the frontrunner and expected to secure the Republican nomination, he seeks to portray the charges as a deliberate attempt to undermine his political ambitions.
It is worth noting that this is not the first legal entanglement for Trump. Previously, he faced 37 counts in a case in New York, his birthplace and longtime residence, related to allegations of paying hush money to an adult film star to conceal an alleged affair, which he has publicly denied.
He recently lost a defamation lawsuit filed by a columnist who accused him of rape in the 1990s. Additionally, he remains under federal investigation for his involvement in the assault on the US Congress on January 6, 2021, and faces a state investigation in Georgia for his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in that state.
