Past cases persuaded Justice Dept. officials to shift Trump case to Miami
Former president Donald Trump said Thursday night that he’s been charged by the Justice Department in connection with the discovery that hundreds of classified documents were taken to his Mar-a-Lago home after he left the White House — a seismic event in the nation’s political and legal history.
Several Trump advisers confirmed the charges. Trump, who is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said he has been summoned to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday at 3 p.m. A seven-count indictment has been filed in federal court naming the former president as a criminal defendant, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a case that has yet to be unsealed. [Continue reading…]
Within 20 minutes of his announcement, Trump, who said he was due in court Tuesday afternoon, had begun fundraising off it for his 2024 presidential campaign. He declared in a video, “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” and repeated his familiar refrain that the investigation is a “witch hunt.” [Continue reading…]
For many months, Justice Department prosecutors questioned witnesses before a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., about former president Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.
The secret proceedings yielded evidence of potential mishandling as well as obstruction of justice, people familiar with the investigation have said, making the federal courthouse in the nation’s capital the focal point of a waiting game: Would Trump be the first former president indicted by the Justice Department?
In early May, the parade of witnesses to that grand jury appeared to stop. It turns out, however, that witnesses were still being called — to a federal courthouse a thousand miles south, in Miami. That courthouse is much closer to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida home and private club, where most of the alleged conduct under scrutiny took place.
People familiar with the matter said Wednesday that special counsel Jack Smith and his team are preparing to bring the bulk of any charges in the case in South Florida rather than Washington. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. [Continue reading…]