Trump told he could face charges over classified Mar-a-Lago documents

Donald Trump is the target of a criminal investigation over the potential mishandling of classified files after his departure from the White House.

The former US president’s legal team have been sent a letter by federal prosecutors from the office of special counsel Jack Smith – “the clearest signal yet that the former president is likely to face charges in the investigation”, said to The New York Times.

Since last year, prosecutors have been examining the transfer of files from the White House to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Last August, the FBI seized about 11,000 documents, some of which were marked as classified and top secret, from his home.

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The New York Times said Trump’s lawyers held a meeting with Smith and other Department of Justice (DoJ) officials for nearly two hours on Monday. Sources close to Trump referred to the meeting as “a final effort to stave off charges”. The paper added that Trump has so far denied being informed of an impending indictment, calling the reports “not true”.

When questioned directly by the paper about whether he had been notified of being a target in the federal investigation, Trump responded that “you have to understand” that he was not in direct contact with the prosecutors.

The Independent said that the DoJ is preparing to approach grand jurors for approval to indict Trump for violating Section 793 of the US criminal code. This section prohibits the “gathering, transmitting, or losing” of any “information respecting the national defense”.

The use of this law is believed to be a “strategic decision” by prosecutors. They are keen to pre-empt any claim by Trump that as president, he possessed the authority to declassify the documents he removed from the White House and subsequently retained at his Palm Beach residence.

If Trump were to be indicted, it would be the second time that criminal charges have been brought against him. In April he pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records concerning hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election. He faces trial in New York over the case next year.