Former President Donald Trump will get a “speedy trial” on the 37 felony count indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Miami this week, Special Counsel Jack Smith said Friday.
Trump announced the indictment himself on Thursday, and details came Friday as Smith’s office released the full document charging him with multiple counts of willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing documents or records, and making false statements. The charges stem from Trump’s alleged mishandling of sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“Today, an indictment was unsealed charging Donald J. Trump with felony violations of our national security laws, as well as participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice,” Smith told reporters. “This indictment was voted by a grand jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida and I invite everyone to read it in full to understand the scope, and the gravity of the crimes charged.”
Smith said his office “will seek a speedy trial on this matter, consistent with the public interest and the rights of the accused.”
No trial date has been set, but the case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who Trump appointed to the Southern District of Florida bench in 2020. It was Cannon who appointed a special master last year to review documents the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago, a decision that was reversed on the DOJ’s appeal. Trump is scheduled to appear before Cannon on Tuesday.
Even with a speedy trial, Trump’s legal woes are sure to affect his bid for another term in the White House. He also faces a trial in New York, where the Manhattan district attorney has secured an indictment against him for allegedly falsifying business records.
In the latest case, Smith said that laws that protect U.S. national defense information were critical to “the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced.”
“Adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the Department of Justice and our nation’s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world,” he said. “We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone. Applying those laws, collecting facts, that’s what determines the outcome of an investigation. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Smith said that it was important for people to remember that the defendants in the case, which also includes Trump aide Walt Nauta, “must be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
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