WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors unsealed a 37-count indictment against Donald Trump on Friday, accusing the former president of risking some of the country's most sensitive security secrets after leaving the White House in 2021.
Trump mishandled classified documents that included information about the secretive U.S. nuclear program and potential domestic vulnerabilities in the event of an attack, the federal indictment said.
Trump also discussed with lawyers the possibility of lying to government officials seeking to recover the documents; stored some of the documents around a toilet, and moved boxes of them around his Mar-a-Lago Florida resort home to prevent them from being found, the charges said.
"Wouldn't it be better if we just told them we don't have anything here?" Trump said to one of his attorneys, according to the 49-page indictment.
The Justice Department made the criminal charges public on a tumultuous day in which two of Trump's lawyers quit the case. The indictment charges Trump with 37 counts. A former aide, Walt Nauta, faces charges in the case as well.
Trump is due to make a first court appearance in the case in a Miami court on Tuesday, a day before his 77th birthday. Since Trump would serve any sentences concurrently if convicted, the maximum prison time he faces is 20 years for obstruction of justice, which carries the highest penalty.
U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, said in a brief statement: "Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States, and they must be enforced."
"We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everybody." He said as with any defendant, those accused were presumed innocent until proven guilty and he pledged to seek a speedy trial before a jury of citizens in Florida.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-faces-federal-charges-classified-documents-case-adding-legal-woes-2023-06-09/Nice.