Former President Donald Trump was indicted on 37 federal counts, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements, according to an unsealed copy of the indictment obtained by Fox News.
Special Counsel Jack Smith unsealed the indictment against the former president on Friday.
Trump valet and aide Waltine Nauta was indicted on six federal counts, detailed in the indictment.
Trump first announced he had been indicted on Thursday night. Trump told Fox News Digital he will plead not guilty.
Photos from Mar-a-Lago included in the Special Counsel indictment of former President Donald Trump. (U.S. Department of Justice)
“The classified documents TRUMP stored in his boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack,” the indictment states. “The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods.”
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in at the Waco Regional Airport in Waco, Texas, in March 2023. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The special counsel claims that Trump showed classified documents to others in 2021 — once in July 2021 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and once in August or September 2021.
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“The grand jury issued a subpoena requiring Trump to turn over all documents with classification markings,” the indictment states.
Photos from Mar-a-Lago included in the Special Counsel indictment of former President Donald Trump. (U.S. Department of Justice)
The special counsel alleges Trump “endeavored to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal his continued retention of classified documents” by suggesting that his attorney “falsely represent to the FBI and grand jury” that he “did not have documents called for by the grand jury subpoena.”
Smith says Trump retained a document that denoted it was “releasable only to the Five Eyes intelligence alliance consisting of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.”
During the FBI’s unprecedented raid of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022, the FBI seized 102 documents with classification markings in Trump’s office and storage room.
Photos from Mar-a-Lago included in the Special Counsel indictment of former President Donald Trump. (U.S. Department of Justice)
In Trump’s office, the indictment states there were 27 classified documents — six marked as top secret, 18 marked as secret, and three marked as confidential. In the storage room, 75 classified documents were found — 11 marked as top secret, 36 marked as secret, and 28 marked as confidential.
Photos from Mar-a-Lago included in the Special Counsel indictment of former President Donald Trump. (U.S. Department of Justice)
Trump and Nauta were both charged with two counts of withholding document or record; and one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation.
Trump and Nauta were also charged with one count of “scheme to conceal.”
A view of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 31, 2023. (Â REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo)
Trump was also charged with making a false statement in June 2022 when he said a “diligent search” of Mar-a-Lago was conducted; the search was conducted “after receipt of the subpoena;” and “any and all responsible documents accompany this certification.”
Nauta was also charged with a count of making a false statement during a voluntary interview with the FBI on May 26, 2022, about moving boxes.