Donald Trump’s indictment comes nearly a year after FBI agents carried out their raid on Mar-a-Lago, turning classified documents that would lead to the former president’s formal indictment.
The incident began when Trump left office with records from his administration, which is against federal law. It involved the appointment of a special counsel, several Trump aides testifying before a grand jury and a fury of denials from the former president, who claims to be the victim of a political witch hunt.
Here is a timeline of events:
January 20, 2021: Donald Trump leaves the White House as Joe Biden is sworn in as the country’s 46th president; Trump returns home to West Beach, Mar-a-Lago.
May 2021: National Archives and Records Administration realizes some documents from Trump’s presidency are missing
Workers move boxes out of the Eisenhower Executive Office building on the grounds of the White House, ahead of the departure of President Donald Trump on January 14, 2021
December 2021: Archives requests documents from former president; In late December, a Trump representative informed the agency that 12 additional boxes of documents that should have been turned over had been found at the club and former president Mar-a-Lago’s residence and were ready for collection.
January 18, 2022: Archives received 15 boxes of material that had been stored at Mar-a-Lago, some of which contained classified material
The agency said it “has identified items marked as classified national security information, up to the Top Secret level and including compartmented sensitive information and Special Access Program documents.”
In total, the boxes were found to contain 184 documents with classified markings, including 67 marked confidential, 92 secret and 25 top secret.
February 8, 2022: National Archives releases public statement saying they are still seeking more Trump presidential records
February 9, 2022: The case is forwarded to the Ministry of Justice
February 10, 2022: U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee Announces Investigation into Trump’s Handling of Documents
Donald Trump claimed to be the victim of a political witch hunt
May 2022: After back and forth with Trump’s legal team, Justice Department issues subpoena for additional documents they believe are at former president’s Florida home
Investigators believe that after this subpoena arrived, storage boxes, including some containing classified material, were moved from a Mar-a-Lago storage area that Trump personally examined. some of them.
April 12, 2022: The archives informed Trump of his intention to provide the documents to the FBI, at the request of the Department of Justice. A Trump representative has requested an extension until April 29.
April 29, 2022: The Justice Department sent a letter to Trump’s attorneys requesting immediate access to the material, “citing ‘a significant national security interest’.”
“Access to the materials is not only necessary for the purposes of our ongoing criminal investigation, but the executive branch must also make an assessment of the potential harm resulting from the apparent manner in which these materials were stored and transported and take all necessary corrective action,’ the ministry wrote.
May 10, 2022: The archives informed Trump’s lawyers that they would provide the FBI with access to the records as early as May 12.
May 11, 2022: The Department of Justice has issued a subpoena for additional documents.
June 2, 2022: Walt Nauta and two employees take documents out of a store. Hours later, Trump’s lawyers contact the DOJ and say they are welcome to visit and retrieve the documents
June 3, 2022: Three FBI agents and a DOJ attorney travel to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve the additional material. They received a single Redweld envelope, double-wrapped in tape, containing the documents, according to later court documents. This envelope contained 38 documents with classification marks, including five documents marked confidential, 16 marked secret and 17 marked top secret.
The FBI raided Donald Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago (above) on August 8, 2022
August 5, 2022: The DOJ requested a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago, citing “probable cause” that additional presidential records and files containing classified information remained at Trump’s Florida home. Court documents show the original search warrant application showed officers believed “evidence of obstruction will be found on the premises”.
August 8, 2022: FBI agents raid Mar-a-Lago, recovering 18 documents marked top secret, 54 marked secret, 31 marked confidential, and 11,179 government documents or photographs with no classification markings.
August 22, 2022: Two weeks after the FBI raid, Trump separately asks the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida for a so-called special master to review the documents, prompting the Justice Department’s 54-page response.
August 26, 2022: Justice Department releases heavily redacted affidavit — a sworn statement outlining evidence giving law enforcement officials a likely reason to ask a judge to approve a search warrant — after media sues its publication. A judge approved his release.
August 30, 2022: DoJ files response to Trump’s request for special main review.
September 2, 2022: The FBI reveals in a court filing that it recovered more than 11,000 government documents and photographs during the August 8 search of Trump’s estate, along with 48 empty files labeled as “classified”.
A US judge agrees to appoint a special master in Trump’s search case.
Documents found at Mar-a-Lago during an August raid are on display
Jack Smith was appointed special adviser in November to investigate Trump’s handling of classified information
October 2022: Walt Nauta testifies before federal officials as part of the investigation; telling them he moved boxes at the request of the former president at a time when the government was asking for the return of classified material
November 18, 2022: Jack Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to serve as special adviser
March 2023: Trump’s communications aide Margo Martin, who worked in the White House and then moved with Trump to Florida, appears before the grand jury in Washington, DC
At least two dozen people – from staff at the Mar-a-Lago resort to members of Donald Trump’s inner circle at the Florida estate – are subpoenaed to testify
April 2023: A dozen current and former US Secret Service officials assigned to Trump testify before the grand jury
June 5, 2023: Trump’s legal team meets with Smith at the Justice Department
June 7, 2023: It is revealed that a second grand jury in Florida heard testimony; Taylor Budowich, who worked as Trump’s spokesperson, appeared before him
June 2023: The Department of Justice recently informed Donald Trump’s legal team that he is the target of a federal investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents.
June 8, 2023: Trump announces in a post on his Truth Social platform that he has been charged with mishandling classified documents and summoned to appear before a federal judge in Miami
