The Trump Indictment, Explained

Former President Donald Trump in 2019. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Donald Trump became the first former president to face federal indictment Thursday after a grand jury handed down 37 counts against him related to the mishandling of classified documents.

Prosecutors allege Trump violated seven federal statutes: willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements and representations. Also charged as an co-conspirator is Walt Nauta, an aide to Trump.

The office of the special counsel, which began its investigation into the documents in March 2022, alleges several instances of Trump and Nauta trying to conceal the documents Trump took from the White House after his term ended. The investigation eventually culminated in a search warrant federal agents executed at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort home on August 8, 2022.

The National Archives and Record Administration asks for documents back.

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