The unsealed indictment paints a damning picture of how Trump handled secret documents.
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Former President Donald Trump insists that he did “nothing wrong” with regard to how he handled classified information after he left the White House. A 49-page indictment released Friday afternoon paints a very different picture.
If prosecutors can prove everything that they are alleging in the indictment, then Trump is in serious trouble, and all those people who came to his defense right away may want to reevaluate their support for the former president.
In painstaking detail, the indictment lays out the lackadaisical manner in which documents with top secret markings were stored at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. The indictment asserts that thousands of people could have had access to these documents with minimal effort, and that Trump staffers without the proper clearance handled them.
Then, when the US government became aware that the former president had held onto dozens of documents that he should have returned, Trump and his aide Walt Nauta tried to hide them.
Overall, the indictment lays out 37 felony counts against Trump, including 31 violations of the Espionage Act.
Nauta was charged with six felonies for his role in concealing the documents, including obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI.
A lot of the information contained in the document had already leaked out. However, the indictment is a remarkable document in that it meticulously details the lengths to which Trump went to deceive investigators.
In addition, it also lists a description of the documents that the former president had held onto.
Undoubtedly, his allies will try to spin this indictment into part of an effort to “get” Trump, and they will make the case that what he did was no big deal and totally normal for former presidents.
Furthermore, when Trump stands trial, it will be a momentous occasion in US history with the potential of turning into something very bad for the country.
Therefore, every American should read this document and form their own opinion about it before talking heads tell them how they should feel about it.
