MIAMI — Donald Trump said Thursday that he’s been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, igniting a federal prosecution against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
The Justice Department did not immediately publicly confirm the indictment against Trump, who is currently in Bedminster, N.J.
A person familiar with the situation, but who was not authorized to discuss it publicly, said Trump’s lawyers were contacted by prosecutors shortly before he announced on his Truth Social platform that he had been indicted.
Within 20 minutes of his announcement, Trump had begun fundraising off it for his 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump said he is due in court Tuesday afternoon in Miami.
The case adds to deepening legal jeopardy for Trump, who has already been indicted in New York and faces additional investigations in Washington and Atlanta that also could lead to criminal charges.
The indictment arises from a monthslong investigation by special counsel Jack Smith into whether Trump broke the law by holding onto hundreds of documents marked classified at his Palm Beach property, Mar-a-Lago, and whether Trump took steps to obstruct the government’s efforts to recover the records.
Prosecutors have said that Trump took roughly 300 classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, including some 100 that were seized by the FBI last August in a search of the home.
Trump and his team have long seen the special counsel investigation as far more perilous than the New York matter — both politically and legally. Campaign aides had been bracing for the fallout since Trump’s attorneys were notified that he was the target of the investigation, assuming it was not a matter of if charges would be brought, but when.
But it remains unclear what the immediate and long-term political consequences will be for Trump. His first indictment spurred millions of dollars in contributions from supporters, and it didn’t damage Trump in the polls.