Trump made headlines today as he plead not guilty to charges that he broke the law dozens of times by hiding classified documents in his Florida home. He was formally accused at a Miami court, becoming the first former US president to face federal criminal charges.
Former President Donald Trump is now under arrest and booked on federal charges https://t.co/SaUlpRNheE
— CNN (@CNN) June 13, 2023
Trump, 76, was brought in about 15 minutes before the hearing began on Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Miami, Florida. His son Eric Trump, accompanied his father to the courthouse for the historic case that could alter the country’s political and legal landscape ahead of the 2024 race for the White House.
Trump, who has announced his second bid for the presidency, looked down at the floor for most of the hearing and his lawyer waived a reading of the 49-page indictment, ABC News reported.
Federal prosecutors accused Trump, a Republican, of wilfully withholding classified documents obtained during his presidency and obstructing justice in his efforts to conceal those materials from authorities, as a detailed indictment unsealed on Friday. The former president was charged with 37 federal counts, including 31 violations of the Espionage Act.
There was no discussion during the 45-minute court hearing of when, or where, Trump must next appear in court.
The first former US president to stand accused of federal crimes, Trump could be sentenced to years in prison if found guilty. He publicly attacked special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the investigation, in the hours before his court appearance, calling the veteran prosecutor a “thug” and a “lunatic” in social media posts.
While Tuesday’s court appearance was the second time in a little over two months that Trump had pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in a courtroom – he also pleaded not guilty in April to charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney – the federal charges are a more serious legal threat to the former president, CNN said.
Trump, who is again seeking the Republican presidential nomination, faces the prospect of sitting at a defendant’s table for federal and state trials that may overlap with the presidential primaries or nominating conventions.
The FBI in August seized more than 100 classified documents kept in Trump’s private residence.
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