HEAT ON TRUMP

EX-PRESIDENT FACES BOMBSHELL CHARGES OVER SECRET PAPERS

- Nicholas Cecil

DONALD TRUMP’S bid for a White House comeback was rocked today by an indictment bombshell on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate.

The legal move would make him the first former president in US history to face criminal charges by the federal government that he once oversaw. But rather than pull out of the race to become the Republican candidate, Mr Trump went on the offensive with an angry swagger, announcing the indictment on his Truth Social platform, and protesting: “I AM AN INNOCENTMAN!”. The justice department was expected to make public a seven-count indictment ahead of an historic court appearance next week amid the 2024 presidential campaign.

The indictment carries the possibility of prison if Mr Trump is convicted. It also unleashed a fresh political storm as Mr Trump has been way ahead of other contenders to become the Republican candidate to take on Joe Biden in the presidential election. It also set the stage for a sensational trial centred on claims that the then president, once entrusted to safeguard the nation’s most closely guarded secrets, “wilfully, and illegally”, hoarded sensitive national security information at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left office.

Mr Trump has already been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an historic case over allegations he orchestrated hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal before the 2016 election. He denies any wrongdoing.