Former Pres. Trump indicted on at least 7 federal charges in classified docs investigation
Former President Donald Trump has been indicted for a second time, this time on at least seven federal charges in relation to his handling of classified information while out of office, sources familiar confirm to ABC News.
He has been issued a summons to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET, sources said.
“We’re learning from our sources that there appears to be at least seven counts here. This ranges from everything from the willful retention of national defense information to conspiracy to a scheme to conceal to false statements and representations,” ABC News’ Katherine Faulders reported on during a special report on the network.
In a statement on social media, Trump wrote that he had been told of the indictment and insisted the case was a “hoax.” He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
He wrote that he is “INNOCENT” and it was a “DARK DAY” for the U.S.
Spokespeople for the Justice Department and special counsel Jack Smith’s office declined to comment on Trump’s statement.
The unprecedented federal indictment of a former president — who already faces a criminal case in New York City that he denies and who is the current front-runner for the Republican Party’s nomination for the White House in 2024 — further underlines what are potentially the most consequential prosecutions in U.S. history, with implications both global and domestic.
Experts say that a current U.S. government criminally prosecuting its former leader and current leading opposition party candidate upends long-held norms and could test the nation’s democratic system in a manner that stretches far beyond the merits of the case itself.