The latest on the federal indictment against Donald Trump

Our live coverage of the federal indictment against former President Donald Trump has moved here.

The federal criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s potential mishandling of classified documents escalated in stunning fashion last week with the former president's indictment.

Tomorrow, Trump is expected to appear in federal court in Miami to be arraigned. He faces a total of 37 counts, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information, according to the indictment.

The investigation – led by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith – revolves around sensitive government papers that Trump held onto after his White House term ended in January 2021. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and claims the investigation is a politically motivated sham.

Here’s a timeline of key events that occurred this year in the blockbuster investigation:

Spring 2023: A string of key witnesses testify before the special counsel’s grand jury in Washington, DC. This includes Trump administration officials Robert O’Brien and Ric Grenell, who handled national security and intelligence matters; Margo Martin, a communications aide who continued working for Trump after he left the White House; and Matthew Calamari Sr. and his son, Matthew Calamari Jr., longtime Trump employees who oversee security for the Trump Organization.

Mid-March 2023: In response to a new subpoena from the special counsel, Trump’s lawyers turn over some material related to a classified Pentagon document that he discussed at a recorded meeting in 2021. However, Trump’s team wasn’t able to find the specific document – about a potential US attack on Iran – that prosecutors were looking for.

March 25, 2023: Evan Corcoran, the lead Trump attorney, testifies before the grand jury in Washington, DC. This occurred after a federal judge ordered him to answer prosecutors’ questions, ruling that attorney-client privilege did not shield his discussion with Trump because Trump might been trying to commit a crime through his attorneys. Corcoran later recused himself from handling the Mar-a-Lago matter.

June 2023: The first public indications emerge that the special counsel is using a second grand jury in Miami to gather evidence. Multiple witnesses testify in front of the Miami-based panel, CNN reported.

June 5, 2023: Trump lawyers meet with senior Justice Department officials – including special counsel Smith – to discuss the Mar-a-Lago investigation. The sitdown lasted about 90 minutes, and Trump’s team raised concerns about the probe, which they have called an “unlawful” and “outrageous” abuse of the legal system.

June 7, 2023: News outlets report that the Justice Department recently sent a “target letter” to Trump, formally notifying him that he’s a target of the investigation into potential mishandling of classified documents.

June 8, 2023: A federal grand jury in Miami indicts Trump in connection with the classified documents investigation, accusing him of 37 federal crimes, including illegally retaining national security documents and conspiring to obstruct justice. Trump says in a social media post that he is “totally innocent” and calls the case a “hoax.” The grand jury also indicts Walt Nauta, the Trump aide, on obstruction-related charges.

See the full timeline here.

Some top Republican senators are downplaying the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump.  

Sen. Joni Ernst said she has not read the indictment, but “if that is all true, it is bad."

Though she quickly pivoted, adding, “I will also remind you that Hillary Clinton had 33,000 emails on an illegal server out of her home. Joe Biden had materials stored in four different locations.”

Ernst later told reporters, “I think across the board, we've seen many instances of classified documents getting out into areas where they shouldn't be, but it seems there's two systems of justice here, one for President Trump and one for everybody else.”

Sen. Steve Daines would not address the merits of the case. He also attacked the Department of Justice. 

Sen. Thom Tillis called on the Justice Department to remove oversight by a political appointee. 

“The best thing we can do is move this out of any decision that involves a political appointee… between the attacks on the FBI, the attacks on the DOJ, I don't think about political appointees, but I think about the 10s of 1000s of people and organizations that are doing a good job every day and should be treated with respect,” Tillis said.

Sen. Mike Crapo also criticized the DOJ, saying this is a "weaponization" of the Department of Justice and an "unequal application of the law."

When asked about the national security implications, he responded, “No comment.”

Sen. John Cornyn said, “It’s not good,” but did not answer follow-up questions. 

Sen. Roger Wicker would not answer questions on the indictment, saying, “I’m late for this meeting.”

Sen. Cynthia Lummis said that the fact a former president has been indicted is "of concern," but later added, "I think it's pretty inappropriate. So I hope they were very judicious about making their decision."

Former President Donald Trump isn’t alone in looking to beef up his legal team with lawyers who have experience in southern Florida. Special counsel Jack Smith has at least two prosecutors from the Miami US attorney’s office on his team. 

One of them is Karen Gilbert, a seasoned Miami prosecutor who supervised the Ma-a-Lago national security case involving a Chinese national who trespassed at the Trump property. Gilbert also was part of the team that helped prepare for the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago last August as part of the classified documents investigation. 

For context: The special counsel’s team determined in recent months that they would bring the case in Florida instead of Washington, DC, where they initially used a grand jury to gather evidence, people briefed on the matter told CNN. 

The complications over venue made clear that prosecutors would have to bring any charges in the district based in Miami, which also includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, the sources said. 

Trump's team has been reaching out to Florida-based attorneys and firms to gauge their interest in joining them, sources tell CNN. Some Florida lawyers also are reaching out to the Trump team to express interest. 

The former president arrived in Miami on Monday ahead of his Tuesday court appearance. He faces 37 counts in a federal indictment related to his handling of classified documents after he left office. He is the first former president to face federal charges.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican and staunch Trump ally, said he’s not concerned that former President Donald Trump allegedly disclosed national security secrets to people who don’t have security clearances at Mar-a-Lago.

“Those who live in a glass house don’t need to throw rocks,” Tuberville told CNN, trying to equate the case to the situation involving Joe Biden. 

Many Republicans argue that Trump is being unfairly singled out by the judicial system since Biden and Mike Pence were also discovered to have classified documents dating from their vice presidencies.

But the cases are distinct because the two former vice presidents cooperated with authorities and returned the material. The Trump indictment allegedly shows the former president concealing evidence of documents in his possession that belonged to the government and that represented a risk to national security given their haphazard storage at his Florida resort.

Tuberville claimed that Trump declassified the documents, but when asked about the allegation that Trump knew he didn’t declassify the records, he said that the former president needs to clarify the matter

Asked if he was concerned that Trump may have made false statements to investigators and obstructed this investigation, Tuberville said, “I don’t know anything about that now. They obviously got what they wanted. I don’t know whether he obstructed or not.”

The historic federal indictment against Donald Trump concerns sensitive government files that the former president brought from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after he left office. Court filings last year revealed extraordinary details about the types of documents involved in the investigation.

The Justice Department subpoenaed Trump in May 2022, demanding the return of any classified materials still at Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s lawyers turned over some subpoenaed documents in June 2022, including:

Read a breakdown of the most important numbers from the criminal probe that led to Trump’s indictment here.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer addressed the federal indictment against Donald Trump in his floor remarks Monday and said “no one is above the law," including the former president.

Former President Donald Trump has arrived at his Trump National Doral Golf Club where he is expected to stay overnight before appearing on Tuesday in Miami federal court to be arraigned on charges stemming from his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

“How are you all doing? Everyone OK?” Trump asked as he entered the club on Monday.

In the lobby were several Trump fans with MAGA hats and one dressed as Uncle Sam. Trump left the lobby with his entourage, including his son, Eric Trump.

White House officials are still electing not to weigh in on the second indictment of former President Donald Trump for his mishandling of national defense documents after he left office and for trying to conceal them from federal officials. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby both took questions from reporters on Monday, but they declined to comment when asked about Trump's indictment by the Department of Justice.  

"I'm not going to speak directly to the case," Jean-Pierre said. "What I can say, and you've heard us say this over and over again — this is a President that respects the rule of law."

Asked by CNN later about some of the violent rhetoric around the indictment, Jean-Pierre emphasized Biden's respect for the Department of Justice.

Kirby referred reporters to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence when asked about the ongoing review to determine how the documents held by Trump in Mar-a-Lago may have impacted national security. 

"I think the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has already spoken to the fact that they were conducting a national security assessment and I would refer you to them. I don't have any update on that one way or the other," Kirby said. 

Pressed later about the historic nature of Tuesday's arraignment, Kirby again referred questions to the DOJ and said that Biden is focused on running the country. 

"He fully respects the independence of the Justice Department and allowing the Justice Department to do their job unimpeded and uninterrupted, certainly by him or anybody on his staff," Kirby said.