Did Donald Trump endanger the "national security" of the United States? A historic indictment released this Friday, June 9 clearly accuses the former US president of keeping nuclear secrets after leaving the White House in January 2021. The Republican is facing 37 charges , including "unlawful withholding of national security information" and "obstructing justice," according to the document.
He is also accused of perjury and conspiring with his personal assistant, Walt Nauta, also prosecuted, to conceal documents requested by the FBI, the federal police. Donald Trump announced Thursday that he had been indicted by federal justice for his management of the White House archives, a first for a former president, and that he was summoned to court in Miami on Tuesday.
"I am innocent," he claimed, presenting himself as the victim of a plot orchestrated by his Democratic opponents. The nature of the lawsuits had been described by his lawyer, but the legal file remained under seal, the ministry of Justice observing absolute silence. Democratic President Joe Biden, also in the running for the 2024 ballot, took care to assure Friday that he was not in contact with Justice Minister Merrick Garland in this very sensitive file.
"I haven't spoken to him at all and I won't speak to him. And I have no comment on that,” he replied to a reporter.
In the United States, a law obliges presidents to transmit all their e-mails, letters and other working documents to the national archives. Another espionage law prohibits keeping state secrets in unauthorized and unsecured places.
In January 2021, when he left the White House to settle in his luxurious residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Donald Trump had however taken away dozens of boxes full of files. A year later, after several reminders, he agreed to return 15 boxes containing nearly 200 classified documents.
The federal police, however, estimated that he had not returned everything and still kept a lot in his Palm Beach club. FBI agents had carried out a spectacular search there on August 8 and had seized around 30 other boxes, containing 11,000 documents. According to the indictment, classified documents were found "in a ballroom", but also "in a bathroom, in the shower", or even "in an office" or "a bedroom".
They "included information on the defense capabilities of the United States and foreign countries", "about American nuclear programs" and "about potential vulnerabilities in the event of an attack on the United States and its allies".
Their potential "dissemination would have endangered the national security of the United States, its international relations," added Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, appointed last November to oversee the investigation independently.
For now, Republicans are closing ranks around Donald Trump, including his rivals for the party's presidential nomination, which he is well ahead of.
