Former U.S. President Donald Trump was in custody at a Miami courthouse on Tuesday to face criminal charges that he unlawfully kept national security documents when he left office and lied to officials who sought to recover them, according to Reuters.
Trump was due to submit a plea at an arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman that was closed to cameras and live broadcasts. His former aide Walt Nauta, also charged in the case, appeared in court as well.
Authorities had braced for crowds of up to 50,000 people and prepared for possible violence, recalling the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence and accuses Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration of targeting him. He called Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, a „Trump hater” on social media on Tuesday.
Smith accuses Trump of risking national secrets by taking thousands of sensitive papers with him when he left the White House in January 2021 and storing them in a haphazard manner at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate and his New Jersey golf club, according to a grand jury indictment released last week.
Photos included in the indictment show boxes of documents stored on a ballroom stage, in a bathroom and strewn across a storage-room floor.
The indictment alleges Trump lied to officials who tried to get them back. The indictment of a former U.S. president on federal charges is unprecedented in American history.
The indictment also alleges Trump conspired with Nauta to keep classified documents and hide them from a federal grand jury. Nauta, who has worked for Trump at the White House and at Mar-a-Lago, was due to appear with Trump.
Recent events have not dented Trump’s hopes of returning to the White House. After his arraignment Trump was due to fly from Miami to his New Jersey golf club, where he was scheduled to speak.
The 37-count indictment includes violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalizes unauthorized possession of defense information, and conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Legal experts say the evidence amounts to a strong case, and Smith has said Trump, who will turn 77 on Wednesday, will have a „speedy” trial.
The judge assigned to the case, Aileen Cannon, was appointed by Trump in 2020 and issued a ruling in his favor during the investigation last year that was reversed on appeal. Goodman, the magistrate judge, was assigned to Tuesday’s hearing but is not expected to play an ongoing role in the case.
Experts say it could be a year or more before a trial takes place, due to the complexities of handling classified evidence.
Trump’s lawyers could file a blizzard of motions to challenge Smith’s case before it reaches trial, which would lead to further delays.
In the meantime, Trump is free to campaign for the presidency and could take office even if he were to be found guilty.
Trump accuses Biden of orchestrating the federal case to undermine his campaign. Biden has kept his distance from the case and declines to comment on it.