Live: The documents were discovered at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Former US President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty at federal court hearing in Miami on Tuesday at 7pm GMT (12:30pm IST) as he faces criminal charges for allegedly hoarding classified documents at his Florida beach house after he has left office.
The documents, discovered last year at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, contain sensitive national security information.
Donald Trump said he was sued by the “corrupt Biden administration” and called it a “Boxes Hoax.” Trump is the first sitting or former US president to face federal indictments, which are expected to affect his second term as president.
Here are the live updates on Trump’s court appearance:
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The U.S. government is accusing Trump — who is fighting to reclaim the White House next year — of violating the Espionage Act and other laws when he removed secret documents upon his departure and failed to turn them over to the National Archives.
Donald Trump denied dozens of criminal counts of deliberately mishandling US government secrets and plans to prevent their return, in a historic first appearance in federal court Tuesday.
“We are definitely entering a plea of not guilty,” Todd Blanche, Trump’s attorney, told the Miami hearing.
It was the former president’s second indictment as he faced a deluge of legal threats, just 10 weeks after he was charged with a series of felony charges in Manhattan over hush money payments to a porn star.
Donald Trump pleads not guilty to misusing government secrets
Trump faces 31 charges of wrongfully withholding classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements and other crimes.
A judicial source told the AFP news agency that Trump will be prosecuted like other defendants. He will have his fingerprints taken digitally and a photo of him will be uploaded to the court records but not released to the public.
Donald Trump surrendered Tuesday to face federal charges of mishandling US government secrets — the latest and most serious in a series of investigations threatening his bid to regain the White House.
One of the saddest days in the history of our country. We are a nation in decline,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform as he was taken to court, repeating his regular accusation of a “witch hunt.”
Donald Trump arrived at a Miami courthouse on Tuesday to surrender on charges of mishandling government secrets after becoming the first president in US history to be indicted by a federal grand jury.
Security was tight around the downtown courthouse, where Trump is expected to deny more than 30 charges of wrongfully removing dozens of classified documents when he left the White House in 2021, and of obstructing efforts to get them back.
Donald Trump arrives at court in Miami to face charges in a classified documents case
Trump’s allies in Congress and rivals for the presidential nomination have largely circled the wagons following his latest indictment, decrying the administration’s “arming” against conservatives.
Devoted supporters of the Republican leader have been on the streets since the eve of the hearing, with security heightened around the courthouse as police braced for thousands of protests and the possibility of violence.
Trump has a stormy history with the law and was indicted by a New York grand jury earlier in March for paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Prosecutors say the money was paid ahead of the 2016 election to silence Ms Daniels over claims she had a tryst with Mr Trump in 2006 – a year after he married Melania Trump.
“Wow.” This is how an unknown writer reacted when Donald Trump showed him – in July 2021 – a secret plan to attack an unnamed nation.
Trump told guests that the plan of attack was prepared for him by the Department of Defense and a senior military official, adding that as president he could have declassified the document he showed.
Donald Trump’s lawyer previously hinted at the indicted ex-president’s defense strategy in the case of the classified documents.
Trump will appear in federal court in Miami today on 37 charges, including espionage law violations, making false statements and conspiracy related to his mishandling of classified materials, the latest bout of legal jeopardy facing the insurgent Republican.
US prosecutors indicting Donald Trump used his own words — and notes from his lawyers — to build the historic case against the former president.
The 49-page indictment, unsealed last week, accuses Trump of endangering US national security by hoarding top-secret nuclear and defense documents after leaving the White House.
The case has been assigned to District Court Judge Aileen Cannon. In 2020, Aileen was appointed to the federal bench by then-President Donald Trump.
