Charges include conspiracy, making false statements and unlawfully withholding classified documents, Mr Trump’s lawyer says
Former US President Donald Trump has been accused of handling classified documents after leaving the White House.
Trump, 76, faces seven charges, including mishandling classified documents and obstructing efforts to investigate the storage of the files at his Florida home, his lawyer said.
Both are federal felonies that can carry a prison sentence upon conviction.
Mr Trump is campaigning to return to the White House in 2024.
Legal experts say the indictment does not prevent him from running for president again.
This is the second time Mr. Trump has been charged with a crime, but he now faces a federal case. They usually carry harsher sentences.
He is the first former president ever to be prosecuted by the government he once headed.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Mr Trump said he had been summoned to appear on Tuesday afternoon in a federal court in Miami, Florida, where the charges against him would be read.
“I never thought it was possible for something like this to happen to a former president of the United States,” Mr Trump wrote.
He added: “This is truly a dark day for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will make America great again!”
The charges have not yet been made public, but the details were outlined by his attorney, Jim Trusty. He told CNN they include conspiracy, making false statements, obstruction of justice and unlawfully retaining classified documents under the Espionage Act.
Mr. Trump was at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Thursday when news of the indictment broke.
On Friday, the US Secret Service will meet with Mr Trump’s staff and security officials to plan his trip to court in Miami next week.
Prosecutors also presented evidence in court in Washington, but the decision to instead file the indictment in South Florida may offer some comfort to the Trump team.
Legal experts say the state — where the former Republican president is popular — is likely to produce fewer Democratic-leaning jurors than if the case had been tried in the U.S. capital.
The investigation into Mr. Trump’s handling of classified documents was overseen by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November.
Mr Smith, a former war crimes investigator, is also overseeing a separate investigation into Mr Trump’s role in the storming of the US Capitol.
In the case of the documents, prosecutors said Mr. Trump took about 300 classified files to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, after he left the White House.
About 100 of them – some labeled top secret – were seized when the FBI searched the Palm Beach estate last August.
Reports emerged last week that prosecutors had obtained an audio recording of Mr Trump admitting to keeping a classified document after he left the White House in January 2021. Transcripts of that recording were released to US media on Friday.
It is against US law for federal officials – including the president – to remove or store classified documents in an unauthorized location.
Legal experts say Mr. Trump will still be able to enter the race for the White House.
“He can be indicted any number of times and it won’t interfere with his ability to run,” said David Super, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Polls show Mr. Trump is currently the favorite for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. He could remain on the run even if convicted in the documents case.
As Mr. Trump issued a fundraising email with the headline “BREAKING: INDICTED” on Thursday, several leading Republicans voiced their support for him.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said it was “unwise for the president to impeach the front-runner who opposes him.”
“House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable,” he tweeted.
A detailed list of property seized in the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid
Mr. Trump’s rival for the 2024 nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, said: “For years, we have seen uneven enforcement of the law based on political affiliation.
“The DeSantis administration will hold the DOJ accountable, eliminate political bias, and end gunfire once and for all.”
Mr. Trump became the first former president to be charged with a crime in April after pleading not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to pay hush money to a porn star.
He faces trial in the case in New York next year.
In addition to his legal threat, a prosecutor in Georgia is expected to announce this summer whether Mr. Trump will be charged for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in that state.
