More than two years since the end of his controversial presidency, Donald Trump is still making history – but not in the way he’d like.
In April, Mr Trump became the first former US president to face criminal charges; this week, he also became the first to face federal charges.
His attorney Jim Trusty told CNN that Mr Trump has received summons mirroring an indictment on seven counts, including a charge under the Espionage Act, as well as charges of obstruction of justice, destruction or falsification of records, conspiracy and false statements.
Mr Trusty said the Espionage Act charge was “ludicrous”, and Mr Trump maintained his claim of innocence in a post to his Truth Social platform.
“I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” Mr Trump wrote.
“This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America.”
The twice-impeached president is already facing more than 100 years of jail time in an ongoing criminal case.
Lead up to the indictment
This week’s indictment comes after federal prosecutors spent more than a year investigating whether Mr Trump intentionally retained classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after he left office, and tried to conceal the materials after the Justice Department issued a subpoena for their return.
In August 2022, investigators seized about 13,000 documents from Mar-a-Lago, 100 of which were marked as classified even though one of Mr Trump’s lawyers previously said all classified records had been returned.
The Washington Post reported one of these documents described a foreign government’s military defences, including its nuclear capabilities.
Others reportedly detailed top-secret US operations, with some documents so restricted that even some of the Biden administration’s most senior national security officials were not authorised to review them.
Mr Trump has defended his continued possession of the documents by suggesting he declassified them while he was still president.
But he has not provided evidence of this, his lawyers have not made that argument in court filings, and in audio recordings obtained by prosecutors Mr Trump is said to have acknowledged he did not declassify certain records in his possession.
Following news of Mr Trump’s indictment, US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy echoed Mr Trump’s social media sentiments, and confirmed he would stand by the former president.
“Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America,” he wrote on Twitter.
“It is unconscionable for a president to indict the leading candidate opposing him. Joe Biden kept classified documents for decades.”
Replying to Mr McCarthy, Congressman Ted Lieu said that Mr Trump’s indictment came from grand jurors, not directly from Mr Biden himself.
Biden investigation
Investigations into Mr Biden’s handling of classified documents have been ongoing since November, and do not appear to be nearing a conclusion.
However, the current President has appeared markedly more co-operative than Mr Trump in his dealings with federal investigators, even inviting them to carry out a search of his Delaware residence in January, which led to the discovery of a further six items with classified markings.
Just before news of Mr Trump’s indictment broke this week, Mr Biden dismissed suggestions that a potential indictment of his predecessor would be politically motivated.
“You’ll notice I have never once, one single time, suggested the Justice Department what they should do or not do relative to bring in a charge or not bring a charge. I’m honest,” Mr Biden said on Thursday during a White House press conference.
Further legal woes
Mr Trump’s legal troubles are not limited to this week’s indictment; he is already facing 34 charges of criminal felonies, and was formally arrested in April.
These charges relate to allegations of falsifying business records to conceal a crime before the 2016 presidential election, to which he has pleaded ‘not guilty’.
The alleged falsified business records are related to payments Mr Trump’s company made to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Prosecutors say those payments were intended to reimburse and compensate Mr Cohen for orchestrating hush money payments during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations of extramarital sexual encounters – allegations which Mr Trump has denied. The case is ongoing.
In May, a Manhattan jury found Mr Trump liable in a civil case for sexually abusing and defaming writer E Jean Carroll, and awarded Ms Carroll US$5 million ($7.5 million) in damages. Mr Trump has appealed the decision.
Additionally, Mr Trump and his Republican associates are under investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is examining allegations they tried to interfere in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Ms Willis is still deciding whether to bring criminal charges.
The Justice Department is also facing pressure to prosecute Mr Trump and his allies following a string of congressional hearings that connected the former president to the violence of January 6, 2021, and to efforts to prevent the peaceful transfer of power following his loss to Mr Biden.
The former president is further facing a myriad of other lawsuits.
Possibility of a jail sentence
The serious charges laid against him mean Mr Trump faces the possibility of serving time behind bars, although his legal team is putting up a strong fight, and many prominent Republican politicians are voicing their support.
Each of the 34 criminal felony charges over the falsified business record allegations carry a maximum four-year prison sentence for a guilty verdict, totalling 136 years.
But an actual prison sentence if Mr Trump is convicted would almost certainly be far less than that; the charges do not carry a mandatory prison sentence, and as a first-time offender, he might be issued a fine or ordered to complete community service instead.
With details of his latest charges not yet available, it’s unclear exactly what further possible prison time Mr Trump could be facing.
He is expected to be arrested for the second time in less than three months prior to appearing before the Miami judge next week, although he likely won’t be jailed following the arraignment, similar to his court experience in April.
