Jack Smith

Former President Donald Trump's pattern of behavior with highly classified military secrets was a horrific danger to national security and to people who work in defense — and a massive boon to anyone who would seek to harm either, said former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe on CNN Friday.

He was speaking shortly after special counsel Jack Smith publicly announced a 37-count indictment against the former president, making a statement to similar effect.

Donald Trump on Friday said federal authorities “staged” photos shared by the Justice Department in its indictment that show classified documents at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

The former president said on his Truth Social platform that the way the boxes of classified documents were found suggests the FBI set him up.

Shortly after special counsel Jack Smith announced the unsealing of a 37-count indictment alleging Donald Trump mishandled classified documents in violation of the Espionage Act, the former president assured his social media followers that the allegations are no matter.

Trump suggests that photos showing documents released by the Justice Department exonerate him.

A major legal and political bombshell came on Thursday night, June 8 when the news broke that former President Donald Trump had been indicted on seven counts in connection with special counsel Jack Smith's investigation of government documents he was storing at Mar-a-Lago. This indictment marks the first time in U.S. history that an ex-president has been indicted on federal criminal charges, although it isn't Trump's first indictment.

Trump was already facing a 34-count state prosecution from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr. Moreover, Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia are being investigated by Fulton County, Georgia DA Fani Willis. And Smith's other Trump-related federal investigation involves his post-election activities and the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

Former President Donald Trump is facing a federal 37-count indictment for unlawfully removing classified information and concealing it at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, along with allegedly urging subordinates to destroy records under grand jury subpoena.

The problem for him, argued CNN's Abby Phillip on Friday, is that he is caught dead to rights by his own words — including audio of him admitting he did not declassify the information.

In a rare public appearance, special counsel Jack Smith spoke to reporters about the indictment against former President Donald Trump for unlawful removal of classified information, outlining the severity of the charges and giving some indication of how the trial would go forward.

In particular, Smith stressed how the laws the former president broke are essential to keeping the nation safe.

Donald Trump on Friday attacked Special Counsel Jack Smith, calling the prosecutor a “deranged lunatic” in a social media post.

Smith on Friday unsealed a 37-count indictment against the former president in connection with the handling of classified documents in Mar-a-Lago.

Special Counsel Jack Smith will hold a news conference Friday at 3 p.m. ET, after the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed its 49-page 37-criminal count indictment against Donald Trump. The indictment also names a Trump aide.

Legal experts reviewing the indictment were stunned at not only the level of detail but the manner in which Trump treated classified documents, including allegedly storing them in boxes on the stage at Mar-a-Lago, in a bathroom, a shower and a bedroom.

Federal prosecutors unsealed a 49-page indictment against Donald Trump and his personal valet Walt Nauta, named a co-conspirator in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, on Friday.

The twice-impeached, now twice-indicted former president was charged with 37 counts, including violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice. Special counsel Jack Smith found evidence that Trump knowingly took classified materials after leaving the White House and haphazardly stored them or shared them with pals and political associates.

Former New Jersey Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski on Friday took a shot at his one-time Republican colleagues for turning a blind eye to a threatening tweet from Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA).

Higgins on Friday put out a cryptic tweet that at least one expert in militia codewords says references military-grade maps and makes allusions to taking over bridges in Miami where Trump will be arraigned next week.

Many elected Republicans reacted with outrage to special counsel Jack Smith's indictment of former President Donald Trump -- but one-time Republican insider David Frum believes it's all for show.

Frum, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, writes in The Atlantic that many Republicans secretly want the former president completely out of the national picture but are too afraid to say so due to wrath from their voters.

George Washington University Law professor Jonathan Turley, who has repeatedly defended former President Donald Trump publicly over the years through a wide assortment of scandals and two impeachments, warned the former president and his supporters against blowing off the charges leveled against him by special counsel Jack Smith.

In a new column published by The Messenger, Turley argued that while Trump has escaped countless scandals in the past, "this could be different."