Donald Trump on Thursday was hit with additional federal charges in connection with his alleged mishandling of classified documents, while a third person—a worker at the former president and 2024 Republican candidate's Mar-a-Lago resort—was newly indicted in the case.
Already facing 37 federal charges for his alleged unlawful possession and concealment of classified documents at his Palm Beach, Florida resort, Trump was charged by Special Counsel Jack Smith with four additional counts, according to a superseding indictment filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Also named in the indictment is Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker Carlos De Oliveira, the second Trump aide to be charged in the case. De Oliveria allegedly helped Waltine "Walt" Nauta—who stands charged with six counts, including making false statements to federal investigators—move boxes containing classified documents and lied to federal agents about it.
According to the new indictment, Trump, Nauta, and De Oliveira asked another Mar-a-Lago worker to "delete security camera footage" at the resort in order to prevent it "from being provided to a federal grand jury."
One of the new charges against Trump involves his alleged willful retention of a top secret document about a plan to attack Iran, which he discussed during a recorded interview with biographers at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. The former president was taped saying that "as president I could have declassified" the document, adding "now I can't, you know, but this is still secret."
Trump reacted to the new charges in a Thursday evening Fox News Digital interview, saying, "They're harassing my company, they're harassing my family and by far, least importantly of all, they're harassing me."
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, called the new charges "a continued desperate and flailing attempt" to thwart the 2024 GOP frontrunner's bid to return to the White House.
Trump—who last month pleaded not guilty to the federal charges—has also been indicted in New York on 34 felony counts related to alleged hush money payments during the 2016 presidential election meant to cover up previous sex scandals, charges to which he has also pleaded not guilty.
The twice-impeached former president may also face charges in Fulton County, Georgia, where prosecutors have been investigating his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss. Earlier this month, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously rejected Trump's bid to effectively end Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' probe of his efforts, which culminated in the deadly January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.
