Former US President Donald Trump arrived in federal court in Miami on Tuesday to answer for his negligent handling of state secrets.
The 76-year-old billionaire, who dreams of returning to the head of the United States in 2024, left his Doral property around 1:30 p.m. to go to his summons before a judge in Miami at 3 p.m. who will notify him of the 37 counts charges brought against him.
After having undergone the same formalities as any defendant, including a fingerprinting, he should plead “not guilty” in this potentially very damaging case for his campaign.
He is accused of endangering the security of the United States by keeping confidential documents, including military plans or information on nuclear weapons, in the toilets or storage rooms of his luxury club Mar-a-Lago, in Florida.
He is also accused of having refused to return these documents despite court injunctions, which led to him being charged with “illegal retention of information relating to national security”, but also “obstructing justice” and ” false testimony”.
Since his impeachment, the Republican denounces “a set up” orchestrated to keep him out of the way of Democratic President Joe Biden, also in the running for a second term.
A few hours before the hearing, he renewed his criticism of the “Ministry of Injustice” and the special prosecutor Jack Smith, in charge of the case, whom he described as “thug” and “crazy”.
At the same time, his campaign team has multiplied emails to his supporters to encourage them to contribute financially to his defense.
“Amazed”
Despite the strong protests of his allies, who have relayed his speech massively in recent days, only a few dozen demonstrators had moved to the Miami court on Tuesday to protest against his indictment.
Heads covered with blonde wigs, in reference to their hero’s hair, or more often with red “Make America Great Again” caps, they denounced the lawsuits against Donald Trump in front of an army of journalists.
“I am simply amazed that as a country that represents a beacon for the world, I have to witness this degrading spectacle,” Lazaro Ezenar, 48, told AFP as many police officers surrounded the palace surroundings. of righteousness.
This is the first time that a former American president has been charged at the federal level and the local authorities have taken steps to avoid any overflow.
But Donald Trump has already experienced the ordeal of a court appearance: in early April, he was indicted by New York State justice for several accounting frauds in connection with a payment made before the 2016 presidential election to make silence an actress of X movies, who says she was his mistress.
According to a judicial source, a photo of him will be saved in the court’s computer system but will not be made public. And unlike what happened in New York, no journalist will be able to film or take a picture of him inside the court.
Donald Trump, however, made an appointment with his followers in New Jersey the same evening, for a speech scheduled for 8:15 p.m.
FBI raid
In the United States, a law requires presidents to send all their emails, letters and other working documents to the National Archives. Another prohibits keeping state secrets in unauthorized and unsecured places.
When he left the White House in January 2021, Donald Trump took dozens of boxes full of files. According to the indictment, they were stacked in several easily accessible places, including a ballroom or a restroom, and moved several times.
In January 2022, after several reminders, the ex-president agreed to return boxes containing nearly 200 classified documents, but kept some secretly.
To recover them, FBI agents carried out a spectacular search in Mar-a-Lago on August 8 and seized around 30 other boxes, containing 11,000 documents.
Donald Trump is probably not done with legal problems. A Georgia prosecutor is due to announce the outcome of her investigation into his pressure to try to change the 2020 presidential election by September.
Jack Smith is investigating his role in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
As for the criminal trial of the former president in New York, it could be organized in early 2024, right during the Republican primaries, of which he is currently the big favorite.