The US Attorney General has sent Donald Trump a document confirming the existence of substantial evidence that the former president committed a crime by seizing White House files, the US press reported.
The document, which was sent to Trump’s lawyers by the Justice Department, generally precedes criminal charges, several media outlets reported Wednesday night.
A federal grand jury investigating Trump in southeastern Florida state heard at least one more witness on Wednesday: Taylor Budowich, who served as Trump spokesman after the businessman left the country’s presidency.
“In what can only be described as a false and deeply disturbing attempt to use government power to ‘capture’ Trump, I complied with a legal obligation to testify before a federal grand jury and honestly answered all questions,” Budowich said in the statement. declaration. social network.
“I think the signal is growing that the charges against the former president will be in Florida,” former Justice Department attorney Brandon Van Grack, who was part of an Associated Press investigative team, told the Associated Press news agency. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
When leaving the White House, after being defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, to settle in his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Trump took with him boxes full of documents.
However, a 1978 law requires all US presidents to hand over all emails, letters and other business documents to the US archives.
Another espionage law generally prohibits possession of comments classified as confidential in unauthorized or secure locations.
In January last year, Trump delivered 15 boxes. After seeing the contents, the Federal Police (FBI, the acronym in English) estimated that the Republican had probably stayed with many others.
On August 8, FBI agents conducted a search of a warrant stating “preservation of classified documents” and “obstructing a federal investigation” and seized about 30 boxes.
Trump, who plans to be elected by the Republicans for the 2024 presidential election, stated that “he is being chased” by Democrat-owned justice.
To counter these allegations, U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland appointed a special prosecutor, Jack Smith, in November to lead this and another investigation into Trump’s role in the U.S. Capitol robbery.
At the same time, another special prosecutor is investigating documents classified as confidential found earlier this year in an old office and at Biden’s home by lawyers for the current US president. The lawyers handed over the documents to the court.
On the other hand, in April Trump was accused by the state of New York of falsifying accounting documents related to the payment, before the 2016 elections, of $150,000 to a pornographic movie star in exchange for silence. about an alleged sexual relationship.
Source: DN
