Donald Trump faces additional charges in a documents inquiry related to his alleged mishandling of classified files at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The new indictment includes one count of wilful retention of defense information and two counts of obstruction, bringing the total charges to 40 in this case. Mr. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has criticized the prosecutor as "deranged."
Carlos de Oliveira, a staff member at Mar-a-Lago, has also been indicted, accused of attempting to delete security footage showing illegally-held files being moved. Walt Nauta, a close aide to Mr. Trump, received two additional obstruction charges.
The updated indictment details efforts by Mr. Nauta and Mr. de Oliveira to obstruct the Department of Justice's investigation by deleting surveillance footage of the basement where confidential documents were allegedly kept.
It also alleges that Mr. Trump knowingly discussed a top-secret document with biographers during an interview at Mar-a-Lago, which contained possible plans to attack "Country A," believed to be Iran.
The documents case is led by special prosecutor Jack Smith, who met with Mr. Trump's lawyers earlier for a separate investigation into alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Mr. Trump's legal troubles continue to mount, with pending trials for a hush-money case and civil charges in a defamation case, and Georgia prosecutors considering charges related to election results.
Former Trump aide Stephen Moore believes that these charges are only strengthening his position in the Republican presidential primaries, as the more he is indicted, the more popular he becomes with Republicans. Photo by Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia commons.