Updated Indictment Accuses Trump of Asking Staffer to Delete Mar-a-Lago Camera Footage
A superseding indictment unsealed Thursday adds obstruction and national defense information counts against the former president in the Florida classified documents case and names a new defendant.
By Ishani Kapalli ·
Federal prosecutors have accused Donald Trump of asking a staffer to delete camera footage at his Florida estate in an effort to obstruct the investigation into his handling of classified documents. The allegation appears in an updated indictment unsealed Thursday, which adds new charges against the former president and names an additional defendant.
The superseding indictment contains new counts of obstruction and of willful retention of national defense information. The added charges deepen Trump's legal exposure at a moment when he is bracing for a possible further indictment in Washington, tied to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The new counts also show how far the yearlong investigation has reached. It first produced charges last month, when a 38-count indictment was filed against Trump and his valet, Walt Nauta. The classified records at the center of the case were taken by Trump to Mar-a-Lago after he left the White House in January 2021.
One of the new counts accuses Trump of willfully retaining national defense information related to a discussion of U.S. military plans to attack another country. According to the indictment, Trump raised the subject during an interview in July 2021 at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The interview was conducted for a memoir being written by Mark Meadows, Trump's onetime chief of staff, who named the country as Iran in the book he later published.
The indictment says the document in question was marked top secret and was not approved for viewing by foreign nationals. It states that Trump returned the document to the federal government on Jan. 17, 2022.
The charge marks a notable change in how prosecutors are approaching the case. Rather than faulting Trump only for failing to hand over a document when asked, the government is now charging the former president with retaining a record that it alleges he knew was highly sensitive after leaving office.
A Trump spokesperson dismissed the new charges as "nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt" by the Biden administration "to harass President Trump and those around him" and to influence the 2024 presidential race.
Both Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty.
Source: Boston.com
