A new report has alleged that the Justice Department is preparing to seek an indictment against former President Donald Trump for violating the Espionage Act and for obstruction of justice.
The report alleges that the DOJ is preparing to ask a Washington, DC, grand jury to hand down the indictment as soon as Thursday.
The Independent reports that "prosecutors are ready to ask grand jurors to approve an indictment against Mr Trump for violating a portion of the US criminal code known as Section 793, which prohibits 'gathering, transmitting or losing' any 'information respecting the national defence.'"
The indictment is said to be related to Trump bringing 103 documents that were marked as "classified" to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office.
According to the report, Section 793 does not reference classified information, which would strategically cut off Trump's claims that he had declassified the documents before leaving office and bringing them to Mar-a-Lago.
If convicted under Section 793, Trump would face up to ten years in prison."That section of US criminal law is written in a way that could encompass Mr Trump’s conduct even if he was authorised to possess the information as president because it states that anyone who 'lawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document ...relating to the national defence,' and 'willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it' can be punished by as many as ten years in prison," the report explains.
The report says that prosecutors intend to ask grand jurors to vote on the indictment on Thursday but that it may be delayed up to a week to allow a complete presentation of evidence.
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is cooperating with the investigation and will "plead guilty to several federal charges" as part of a limited immunity deal, which additionally includes him testifying against Trump, the report claims.
On Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he has been indicted and summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday at 3 PM.
Trump responded to the federal charges by declaring, "I AM INNOCENT" on Truth Social.
“The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax, even though Joe Biden has 1850 Boxes at the University of Delaware, additional Boxes in Chinatown, D.C., with even more Boxes at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents strewn all over his garage floor where he parks his Corvette, and which is ‘secured’ by only a garage door that is paper thin, and open much of the time,” Trump wrote in the first of three posts to Truth Social.
Trump continued, “I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM. I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country, and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election. I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”
Trump declared, “This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a Country in serious and rapid Decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!”
This is the second time Trump has been indicted this year, but the first time being charged federally. In April, the Manhattan district attorney charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Trump is currently the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Timcast News has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment and will update this story if one is provided.
