Special Counsel Jack Smith filed three new felony charges against Donald Trump in the classified documents case, including an allegation that Trump attempted to delete the Mar-a-Lago security footage.
Trump has been charged with two new obstruction counts and a charge of willfully retaining national defense information.
Smith has evidence that Trump ordered his employees to delete the Mar-a-Lago security camera footage.
From page 29 of the superseding indictment:
Trump and his lawyers were told earlier on Thursday that he could be indicted at any moment. All eyes were on the Washington, DC grand jury, which still could indict the former president at any time. No one expected that Trump would face more felony charges related to his theft, retention, mishandling, and refusal to return classified documents.
For years, Republicans have been falsely claiming that Hillary Clinton bleached her email server. Hillary Clinton did no such thing, but it was Donald Trump who attempted to destroy criminal evidence that was on a server.
Nothing screams innocence like trying to destroy evidence before the federal government can get it.
The funny thing is that the server wasn’t deleted because Donald Trump didn’t have any employees in on the conspiracy who knew how to delete the security footage.
The Department of Justice ended up with the footage and the evidence that Trump and two employees conspired to destroy it.
The superseding indictment is explosive, and while it won’t change the minds of any Trump supporters, it should doom the former president to defeat if he is the Republican nominee in 2024.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association