Former President Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 37 felony charges in connection with his handling of classified documents and alleged attempts to prevent the government from recovering them, according to news reports.
Trump, who has been indicted twice, was placed under arrest after surrendering to federal authorities ahead of the arraignment in Miami.
Trump is expected to return to his club in Bedminster, N.J., Tuesday night for a private fundraiser where he will deliver live remarks. It was not immediately clear whether the date of the next hearing has been set.
Following an investigation by special counsel Jack Smith, the Justice Department on Friday unsealed the 49-page indictment of the former president, charging that he improperly took and obstructed the government’s efforts to retrieve hundreds of secret documents — some of them related to U.S. nuclear weapons operations and national defense vulnerabilities — and kept them in unsecured areas of his Florida estate, including a bathroom, ballroom and storage room. The Mar-a-Lago property is a private club in Palm Beach, Fla., that hosts thousands of people each year.
According to the indictment, among the classified and top secret records were details on foreign nations’ nuclear capabilities, as well as information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both U.S. and foreign countries, U.S. nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of U.S. and allies to military attack, and plans for possible retaliation in response to an attack.
Trump was first indicted March 30 in New York City on charges related to an alleged hush-money payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 campaign, marking the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been criminally prosecuted.
