The former president of the USA donald trump must respond before federal justice to 37 criminal charges related to the classified documents found in his house in Florida in 2022, in the middle of the campaign for the Republican primaries with a view to returning to the White House.
He is accused of illegal withholding of secrets of the Government, obstruction of Justice and conspiracy, among other crimes, according to court documents officially published this Friday, a day after Trump reported that “The biggest witch hunt in history” had moved to Florida.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith, in charge of the investigation, said Friday that the law applies to everyone and that he will seek a speedy trial “in accordance with the public interest and the rights of the accused”.
He also asked the public to read the document of the accusation to understand “the scope and seriousness of the crimes charged.”
The Prosecutor’s Office alleges that Trump “efforts to obstruct the investigations of the fbi and the grand jury and hide the withholding of classified documents.”
According to the 49-page document, the more serious crimes that are charged, such as obstruction of justice and conspiracy, are punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison and fines of up to US$250,000 and less serious, such as conspiracy to hide, with 5 years in prison and the same financial penalty.
In addition to Trump is charged waltine nauta, a military assistant who worked for him during his term as president (2017-2021) and was seen moving boxes with official documents at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s residence in Palm Beach (Florida)
For the investigation, two grand juries were formed, one in Washingtonand another in Miami, which from May 19 to Wednesday has heard testimonies from people related to the handling of official documents that Trump had at his home without authorization, something that is illegal in the US.
TRUMP LAND
Next Tuesday, June 13, the former president must appear in the federal courts Miami for arraignment.
“There are going to be a lot of supporters there. Florida is Trump’s land,” Republican political analyst Alfonso Aguilar told EFE, one of those who considers that “in the long run, as in the New York case” (the case of payments to Stormy Daniels), this prosecution will benefit the former president in his campaign.
According to various media outlets, the federal judge who will oversee the case, at least initially, is Aileen Cannon, appointed by Trump.
Cannon was the one who, early in the case, agreed to a request from the lawyers Trump asked a special expert to review the material seized at Mar-a-Lago, which included a hundred classified documents, and appointed veteran New York judge Raymond Dearie to handle the task.
But in December 2022 he had to go back and annul the decision due to a ruling by the Court of Appeals of the Eleventh Circuit of the United States, which agreed with the Department of Justice.
CHANGES IN THE LEGAL TEAM
Two of Trump’s lawyers, Jim Trusty and John Rowley, resigned this Friday and will now be represented by Todd Blanche, who was already part of his legal team and other lawyers who will join “in the next few days,” according to what he said this Friday.
The former president, who is campaigning with the goal of returning to the White Houseclaims to be “innocent” and says that the objective of this accusation in federal justice is to “damage his reputation” to prevent him from winning the 2024 elections.
“Collusion”, “electoral interference” and “deceit” are the words that Trump repeated throughout a video posted last night, in which he accused the president, Joe Biden, who is seeking re-election, of being behind it all.
This new prosecution, the first for federal crimes against a former president in the United States, follows the imputation of Trump in a non-federal court in Manhattan (New York) last March for irregular payments to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Now he is back in the campaign and has rallies scheduled in North Carolina and Georgia for this weekend.
Several of his rivals in the primaries, including the governor of floridaRon DeSantis, and the rest of the main figures of the Republican Party have closed ranks in defense of Trump after learning of the new court case against him.
According to the analyst Aguilar, the Republican base is going to side with Trump and also many moderate and independent Democrats, because, in his opinion, it is “obvious” that it is “a political case” against the “main opponent” of the current president. and a candidate for re-election.
“People are very upset,” stressed the analyst and senior vice president and political director of Spanish-language media group Americano Media.