Former President Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records at Mar-a-Lago in federal court in Miami Tuesday.
The charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.
This is the first time in United States history that a former president has faced federal criminal charges.
Trump, the current front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, first signaled he would not plead guilty to the charges in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital last week.
The former president appeared in federal court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami on Tuesday, where Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman said out loud: "In the case of the United States America versus Donald J. Trump . . ." - after which Trump issue his plea.
Trump's defense attorney Chris Kise did much of the talking for the Trump defense team, but defense attorney Todd Blanche told Judge Goodman: "We certainly plead not guilty."
Smith was in the courtroom Tuesday but did not speak to the judge. Instead, federal prosecutor David Harbach spoke for the special counsel’s office.
The former president was released under several conditions – including that he appear in court for future hearings. Trump did not have to surrender his passport and does not have any restrictions on his travel.
Goodman does not want Trump to speak to any potential witnesses about the case, but many of those potential witnesses may be people in Trump’s inner circle. There will be a no-contact list and a list of people the former president can contact but cannot speak with about the case.
Prior to his formal arraignment Tuesday, Trump called the investigation a "WITCH HUNT."
"MAGA," he posted on his TRUTH Social.
Trump attorneys dubbed his indictment a "turning point in our nation’s history."
"The targeting prosecution of a leading political opponent is the type of thing you see in dictatorships like Cuba and Venezuela," Trump lawyer Alina Habba said. "It is commonplace there for rival candidates to be prosecuted, persecuted and put into jail."
The former president could face decades in federal prison if convicted on all 37 federal counts stemming from Smith's probe.
Among the charges are 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information —including documents concerning White House intelligence briefings related to various foreign countries; documents concerning military capabilities of a foreign country and the U.S. with handwritten annotation in black marker; a June 2020 document concerning nuclear capabilities of a foreign country; an Oct. 21, 2018, document concerning communications with a leader of a foreign country; an undated document concerning military contingency planning of the U.S.; a document from December 2019 concerning foreign country support of terrorist acts against U.S. interests; an undated document concerning nuclear weaponry of the U.S.; an undated document concerning the timeline and details of an attack in a foreign country; and more.
Trump is also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice. The indictment says the "purpose" of the conspiracy was for Trump "to keep classified documents he had taken with him from the White House and to hide and conceal them from a federal grand jury."
He was charge with two counts of withholding documents of record, and one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, one count of "scheme to conceal," and 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."
"In fact, after June 3, 2022, more than 100 documents with classification markings remained at The Mar-a-Lago Club until the FBI search on August 8, 2022," the indictment states.
Trump, in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital last week, said his federal indictment is "election interference at the highest level."
"This is the most corrupt administration in history — there has never been an administration so corrupt, and they’re just starting to find it right now," Trump told Fox News Digital. "They are trying to deflect all of their dishonesty by bringing this ridiculous boxes hoax case."
He added: "They’re not going to get away with it."
"I did absolutely nothing wrong," Trump said, citing the Presidential Records Act, saying it "makes me totally innocent."
Trump pleaded not guilty to state charges in New York in April stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation. Trump is accused of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign.
