Trump Pleads Not Guilty To 37 Federal Charges In Classified Docs Case

Topline

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in federal court in Miami to 37 felony counts accusing him of mishandling sensitive government documents and interfering in an investigation, moments after he surrendered to law enforcement and was put under arrest—marking his second indictment since announcing a 2024 run, and the first time a former president faces federal charges.

Former President Donald Trump leaves his Trump National Doral resort, Tuesday, June 13, 2023 in … [+] Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)

Key Facts

Flanked by his lawyers Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise, Trump entered a plea of not guilty to all 37 counts filed against him by the Justice Department last week, including 31 violations of the Espionage Act and several counts accusing him of obstructing the DOJ probe and telling his associates to lie to investigators.

Blanche said “we most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” as Trump stood alongside him with a solemn look on his face and arms folded, CNN reported.

Trump was taken into the courtroom just before 3 p.m. Tuesday, CNN reported, noting Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith (who Trump has repeatedly attacked as “deranged”) was also seated with prosecutors.

Trump—who was pictured waving from the backseat of a car as he made his way to the courthouse—was reportedly booked and taken into custody by federal authorities around 2:20 p.m. ahead of his arraignment.

Trump entered the courthouse through a private entrance, shielded from public view, amid a mass of law enforcement and media cameras gathered outside, NBC News reported.

Trump announced on Truth Social at 1:45 p.m. his motorcade was en route to the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Courthouse in downtown Miami from his Doral golf club, using his preferred term to describe the various investigations against him—“witch hunt!!!”

It’s unlikely Trump was put in handcuffs, given his low security risk, and it’s unclear if he had his mugshot taken—a precaution one of his lawyers, Alina Habba, argued was unnecessary, telling reporters outside of the courthouse Tuesday “he’s not a flight risk. He is the leading candidate of the GOP at the moment.”

What To Watch For

Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman, who barred any cameras or recording devices from the courtroom in a ruling Monday, is overseeing the arraignment for Judge Aileen Cannon, as is standard procedure for initial appearances. Cannon, who was randomly assigned to the case, is a Trump-appointed judge who was widely criticized for ruling in favor of Trump earlier in the Justice Department investigation. Trump is likely to be released from custody following the initial appearance and is scheduled to fly back to New Jersey, where he will deliver a speech from his Bedminster golf club at 8:15 p.m.

Tangent

The Southern District of Florida is known for its speedy docket and quick conclusion of cases, but Trump’s legal team could delay the case by issuing motions and appealing if he is convicted, his former lawyer, Jim Parlatore, told Axios and Politico. Parlatore reportedly said he expects Trump’s legal team to file motions to dismiss the case and others seeking more information from prosecutors about the evidence they’ve gathered. He also predicted Trump’s lawyers will argue for the court to release the unredacted version of the search warrant prosecutors obtained to raid Mar-A-Lago in August. Evidence gathered from Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran has also become a focus for his legal team. Under an exception to the attorney-client privilege rule, the Justice Department seized notes from Corcoran that chronicle how Trump schemed to hide documents from investigators, according to the indictment. Trump’s legal team has also accused prosecutors of pressuring Trump aide Walt Nauta (who was also charged in the case and will be arraigned Tuesday) to cooperate with their investigation by mentioning during a meeting that his lawyer, Stanley Woodward, had applied for a federal judgeship.

Key Background

A grand jury indicted Trump Thursday following a year-long investigation into his handling of classified documents after leaving office. DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office alleges he took with him to Mar-A-Lago a trove of top-secret records that detailed sensitive national defense information, then instructed his associates to hide them from federal investigators and lie about their whereabouts, even after the DOJ sent him a subpoena. Trump faces 31 counts of violating an Espionage Act provision that prohibits willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements, among other charges carrying a maximum sentence of five to 20 years in prison. Trump has repeatedly declared his innocence in the case and accused the Justice Department of waging a politically motivated investigation designed to re-elect President Joe Biden, who oversees the DOJ, but has said he had no involvement in the case.

Chief Critic

Trump’s Republican allies have claimed he was overcharged in the case and had the authority to declassify the documents he held onto, while also claiming the DOJ has treated him unfairly in comparison to its investigation of President Joe Biden’s handling of documents. GOP presidential candidate and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy was seen waving a letter outside of the courthouse Tuesday that he wrote to his fellow GOP candidates, calling on them to commit to pardoning Trump if they are elected and he is convicted, arguing the indictment “reeks of politicization.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) raised the Biden investigation when asked about Trump’s indictment on Capitol Hill Tuesday, telling reporters, “there’s some things that could be damning against President Biden,” while skirting questions about whether he believes Trump is guilty of wrongdoing. “I haven’t seen the documents, I can’t tell you. But if they’re classified, they should be shipped back,” he reportedly said.

Contra

Some of Trump’s competitors in the GOP’s 2024 primary race struck a more critical tone when discussing the indictment, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Haley told Fox News on Monday Trump’s conduct detailed in the indictment was “incredibly reckless,” and Christie said Sunday during a CNN town hall the DOJ’s case was “a very tight, very detailed, evidence-laden indictment.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s closest competitor in the race, took a more tempered approach to criticizing Trump, while also suggesting the Justice Department had deployed a double standard of justice compared to its investigations into Biden and former Democratic Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email server. “As a naval officer, if I would have taken classified [documents] to my apartment, I would have been court-martialed in a New York minute,” DeSantis said during a speech Friday at the North Carolina Republican convention, adding “I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country . . . You can’t have one faction of society weaponizing the power of the state against factions that it doesn’t like.”