Trump says he has been indicted in classified documents probe

Donald Trump leaving Trump Tower in May
(Image credit: James Devaney/GC Images)

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday evening said he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Trump, who is now the first former U.S. president to face federal charges, made the announcement on his Truth Social platform. The indictment was filed in U.S. District Court in Miami by the office of special counsel Jack Smith, people with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times, and Trump said he is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.

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Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November, has been leading the mishandling of classified documents case as well as a second investigation looking at Trump's attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election and how those efforts led to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. A spokesperson for Smith declined to comment on either matter.

Trump is facing other investigations, including a Georgia probe into his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss in the state. In April, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records connected to alleged hush money payments. That trial is scheduled to begin next March.

Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.