Case9 :23-cr-80101- AMC Document3 Entered on FLSDDocket06/08/2023 V. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN OF FLORIDA 23-80101- CR- CANNON/ REINHART UNITED STATES OF AMERICA below: Case No. DONALD J. TRUMP and WALTINE NAUTA, Defendants. The Grand Jury charges that: Defense. 18 U.S.C. 793(e) 18U.S.C. 1512( ) 18U.S.C. 1512(b) (2)( A) 18U.S.C. 1512(c)( 1) 18U.S.C. 1519 18 U.S.C. 1001(a)( 1) 18 U.S.C. 1001(a)( 2) 18U.S.C.
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3. The classified documents TRUMP stored in his boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries;United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to foreign attack. The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations , the safety of the United States military,and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods.
4. At 12:00 p.m .on January 20 ,2021, TRUMP ceased to be president . As he departed
the White House,TRUMP caused scores of boxes ,many of which contained classified documents ,
to be transported to The Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida , where he maintained his
residence . TRUMP was not authorized to possess or retain those classified documents .
5. The Mar- a- Lago Club was an active social club, which , between January 2021 and
August 2022 , hosted events for tens of thousands of members and guests . After TRUMP's
presidency , The Mar- a- Lago Club was not an authorized location for the storage , possession ,
review , display , or discussion of classified documents . Nevertheless , TRUMP stored his boxes
containing classified documents in various locations at The Mar-a-Lago Club including in a
ballroom , a bathroom and shower , an office space , his bedroom , and a storage room .
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6. On two occasions in 2021 , TRUMP showed classified documents to others, as follows:
a. In July 2021, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey
The Bedminster Club ) , during an audio- recorded meeting with a writer,
a publisher, and two members of his staff, none of whom possessed a
security clearance , TRUMP showed and described a plan of attack that
TRUMP said was prepared for him by the Department of Defense and a
senior military official. TRUMP told the individuals that the plan was
highly confidential and secret. TRUMP also said, as president "I could
have declassified it," and, "Now I can't , you know , but this is still a secret."
In Augustor September 2021, at The Bedminster Club, TRUMP showed a representative of his political action committee who did not possess a security clearance a classified map related to a military operation and told the representative that he should not be showing it to the representative and that the representative should not get too close.
7 . On March 30,2022,the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) opened a criminal investigation into the unlawful retention of classified documents at The Mar-a-Lago Club. A federal grand jury investigation began the next month. The grand jury issued a subpoena requiring TRUMP to turnover all documents with classification markings. TRUMP endeavored to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal his continued retention of classified documents by,among other things :
a. suggesting that his attorney falsely represent to the FBI and grand jury that TRUMP did not have documents called for by the grand jury subpoena;
b. directing defendant WALTINE NAUTA to move boxes of documents to conceal them from TRUMP's attorney, the FBI, and the grand jury;
c. suggesting that his attorney hide or destroy documents called for by the grand jury subpoena;
d. providing to the FBI and grand jury just some of the documents called for by the grand jury subpoena, while claiming that he was cooperating fully;
e. and causing a certification to be submitted to the FBI and grand jury falsely representing that all documents called for by the grand jury subpoena had been produced while knowing that, in fact, not all such documents had been produced.
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12. The United States Secret Service (the Secret Service" ) provided protection services to TRUMP and his family after he left office,including at The Mar-a-Lago Club,but it was not responsible for the protection of TRUMP's boxes or their contents. TRUMP did not inform the Secret Service that he was storing boxes containing classified documents at The Mar a-Lago Club.
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