Donald Trump Charged by Federal Justice for Management of White House Archives

Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has been charged by federal justice for his management of the White House archives, a new pitfall for the Republican who wishes to regain the American presidency in 2024.

“The corrupt Biden administration has notified my attorneys that I have been charged, presumably in the bogus boxing case,” he wrote on his Truth Social network. The Republican billionaire said he was summoned to federal court in Miami on Tuesday.

“I am innocent, I have done nothing wrong and I will fight”

The former real estate magnate, who is currently well ahead of the other candidates for the Republican nomination, has always defended himself from any embezzlement and presents himself as the victim of “political persecution”. “I am innocent, I have done nothing wrong and I will fight”, he still assured Thursday evening in a video posted on Twitter, denouncing “electoral interference at the highest level “.

The elected Republicans immediately closed ranks around him. “It’s a sad day for America,” said Jim Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee. President Joe Biden, who is also a candidate in 2024, “tramples the rule of law for his own interest”, judged Senator Josh Hawley.

Without being so categorical, the billionaire Elon Musk, more and more present in the political arena, judged that “there seemed to be more interest in prosecuting Trump than other politicians”.

Democrats, on the other hand, welcomed the news, while warning against Donald Trump’s speech. “He will try to instrumentalize this indictment for political gain, because winning the presidency may be his only way to avoid prison,” said elected official Adam Schiff.

A first federal indictment

In the United States, being charged and even sentenced for an offense or a crime does not prohibit being a candidate, elected or holding an official position.

Read again: Donald Trump is formally charged for trying to cover up three ’embarrassing cases’

This is the first time in US history that a former president has faced federal indictment. In March, he had already been charged by the justice of the State of New York in the case of the purchase of the silence of an actress of X films in 2016. This time, he is accused of having kept entire boxes of documents, including some classified as “secret-defense”, after he left Washington in 2021 and refused to return them, in violation of federal laws. According to CNNwhich cites an anonymous source familiar with the case, seven counts would have been brought against Donald Trump, including “deliberate retention of national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, and “obstruction of justice”, specify the New York Times.

Read also: Donald Trump, a political and judicial future full of unknowns

In the United States, a 1978 law obliges all American presidents to send all their emails, letters and other working documents to the National Archives. Another law, on espionage, prohibits anyone from keeping documents classified as confidential in unauthorized and unsecured places.

Thirty boxes, containing 11,000 documents

Leaving the presidency to settle in his luxurious Mar-a-Lago residence, Donald Trump nevertheless took entire boxes of files. In January 2022, after several reminders, he agreed to return 15 boxes, containing more than 200 classified documents. In a letter, his lawyers then assured that there were no others.

After examination, the federal police, however, estimated that he had not returned everything and that he still kept a lot in his club in Palm Beach. FBI agents went there on August 8, and seized around thirty other boxes, containing 11,000 documents, some of which were very sensitive, on Iran or China.

Strongly denouncing a media operation, his lawyers had strongly criticized the FBI for the publication, according to them unnecessary, of a photo showing seized documents stamped with the words “Top Secret”, scattered on a carpet with a floral pattern.

To silence accusations of a frame-up, Justice Secretary Merrick Garland in November appointed a special prosecutor, Jack Smith, to oversee this investigation independently, as well as another into Donald Trump’s role in the assault. of the Capitol.

Other cases are in progress

Another special prosecutor is investigating in parallel classified documents found earlier this year in a former office and at the home of Democratic President Joe Biden by his lawyers.

These embarrassing finds, along with others from ex-Vice President Mike Pence, allowed Donald Trump to play down his conduct, even though Joe Biden has always cooperated with justice, voluntarily returning the documents, in much smaller number.

The Republican tribune also used his rival’s discoveries to rally his supporters who, each time justice strikes him, close ranks around him. This was particularly the case in April, shortly after his indictment by the justice of the State of New York.

It was the first time in American history that a former president faced criminal charges. The latter were therefore quick to repeat themselves and Donald Trump’s setbacks will undoubtedly not stop there.

A Georgia state prosecutor, who has been investigating for months the pressure exerted by the Republican to try to change the result of the 2020 presidential election, must announce the result of her investigations by September.