Former president Donald Trump stored classified government papers in the shower, ball room, bedroom and office space of his Florida home after leaving the White House in 2021, the indictment reveals.
The federal indictment against Mr Trump has been unsealed and outlines 37 criminal counts.
They relate to holding onto classified national defence information and nuclear secrets.
Charges also relate to obstruction as Mr Trump allegedly sought to conceal the documents when investigators came knocking.
Mr Trump is due to face a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday (local time) — a day before his 77th birthday.
In a day of tumult when he was summoned on Friday (AEDT), Mr Trump’s lawyers Jim Trusty and John Rowley suddenly quit the case and a former aide faced charges as well.
The indictment of a former US president on federal charges is unprecedented in the country’s history and emerges at a time when Mr Trump is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination next year.
Mr Trump’s charges stem from his treatment of sensitive government materials he took with him when he left the White House in January 2021.
According to the indictment, those documents include some of the most sensitive US military secrets, including information on the US nuclear program and potential domestic vulnerabilities in the event of an attack.
One document concerned another country’s support of terrorism against US interests.
Materials came from the Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies, the indictment said.
According to the indictment, Mr Trump showed another person a US Defence Department document described as a “plan of attack” against another country.
Investigators seized roughly 13,000 documents from Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, nearly a year ago.
One hundred were marked as classified, even though one of Mr Trump’s lawyers had previously said all records with classified markings had been returned to the government.
“I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday after announcing he had been indicted.
Mr Trump has previously said he declassified those documents while president but his lawyers have declined to make that argument in court filings.
CNN reported on Friday that Mr Trump said after leaving office that he had retained military information that he had not declassified.
Those comments, captured on audio, could be a key piece of evidence in the case.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon has been initially assigned to oversee the case, according to a separate source who was briefed on the matter.
She could preside over the trial as well, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Judge Cannon, appointed by Mr Trump in 2019, made headlines last year when she decided in favour of the former US president at a pivotal stage of the case and was later reversed on appeal.
Judge Cannon would determine, among other things, when a trial would take place and what Trump’s sentence would be if he were found guilty.
Also on Friday, Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform that his former military valet, Walt Nauta, had been charged in the case.
Mr Nauta worked at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort after serving in the Trump White House.
It was unclear what his charges were.
Mr Nauta’s lawyer, Stanley Woodward, declined to comment.
A representative for Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, could not be reached immediately.
In an earlier post, Mr Trump said he would be represented in the case by white collar defence lawyer Todd Blanche, who is representing him in a separate criminal case in Manhattan.
Mr Trump made that announcement after his lawyers John Rowley and Jim Trusty quit the case for reasons that were not immediately clear.
“This morning we tendered our resignations as counsel to President Trump,” the two lawyers said in a statement.
“It has been an honour to have spent the last year defending him, and we know he will be vindicated.”
Mr Trump and his allies have portrayed the case as political retaliation by Democratic President Joe Biden but Biden has kept his distance.
The case does not prevent Mr Trump from campaigning or taking office if he were to win the November 2024 presidential election.
Legal experts say there would be no basis to block his swearing-in even if he were convicted and sent to prison.
