Trump Faces New Charges; Crime: Attempting to Delete Videos Related to Florida Residence Documents

Former U.S. President Donald Trump is facing a new charge, as he and his aides allegedly attempted to delete surveillance videos from his Florida residence to obstruct investigations into classified documents. These allegations were presented in an updated indictment by a grand jury on Thursday, which includes new charges against Trump and adds another defendant to the case. A spokesperson for Trump dismissed the new charges as 'nothing but a continuous and failed effort' by the Biden administration to 'harass Trump and his associates' and influence the 2024 presidential race. It is reported that after FBI and Department of Justice inspectors visited in June 2022 to collect classified documents that Trump had taken a year prior to leaving the White House, he requested the deletion of these videos. Investigators requested access to the footage after discovering the surveillance cameras. According to prosecutors, the videos show a Trump employee moving boxes of documents in and out of a storage area. The investigation began after Trump repeatedly refused the National Archives' attempts to retrieve documents he had taken from the White House to his Florida residence, leading to new charges against him. The indictment states that the documents contain information about U.S. nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the country and its allies to attack, and plans for response, the disclosure of which could jeopardize U.S. national security. Six other charges against Donald Trump include obstruction of justice, false statements, and attempts to impede investigations and conceal classified documents. Trump claims he was instructed to declassify all documents taken from the White House. The indictment notes that he was well aware of the laws regarding classified information and 'willfully' violated them. In one instance, in July 2021, Trump showed a document regarding a 'strike plan' against four unauthorized individuals at his golf club in New Jersey, stating that it was 'highly classified and secret' and that he could no longer declassify it. In another example, in September 2021, Trump showed a classified map to his political committee representative, telling him not to show it to anyone and asked him to 'stay very close.'