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Trump Indicted in Classified Documents Probe

ABOVE: Former United States President Donald Trump arrives for his arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 04, 2023 in New York City. With the indictment, Trump becomes the first former United States president in history to be charged with a criminal offense. (Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) Donald J. Trump has been indicted by […]
The post Trump Indicted in Classified Documents Probe first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

3 years ago

June 14, 2023

Forward Times Staff

Donald J. Trump has been indicted by a grand jury for mishandling of classified documents. The indictment, filed in a Florida federal court, makes Trump the first former president ever to face federal charges.

Trump announced the indictment last Thursday night in a post on his network, Truth Social. He said his lawyers had been informed of the charges. In an online video statement, Trump claimed that the case is politically motivated and that he will prove his innocence. “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” he wrote.

But federal prosecutors paint a very different picture. When the indictment was unsealed Friday morning, it revealed 38 charges; Trump faces 37 counts, including 31 for retaining documents in violation of the Espionage Act. (Passed in 1917, the Espionage Act prohibits obtaining or disclosing information related to national defense if it could harm the United States.) Trump’s personal aide, Waltine Nauta faces six counts as Trump’s “co-conspirator.”

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 9: In this photo illustration, pages are viewed from the unsealed federal indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump on June 9, 2023 in Washington, DC. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been indicted on 37 felony counts in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents probe. (Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Background

When he left the White House in January 2021, Donald Trump had “scores of boxes” transported to Mar-a-Lago, his home in Florida. These boxes contained classified material (meaning that the information is sensitive. The government restricts who can see it and where, due to national security concerns). Waltine Nauta, a former Navy veteran who was Trump’s valet in the White House, packed up some of the items in the boxes. From January to March of 2021, those boxes were stored in the White and Gold Ballroom at Mar-a-Lago.

In April, some boxes were moved to a bathroom and shower in the “Lake Room” at Mar-a-Lago.

In May, Trump had a storage room cleaned out in order to store the boxes (the same month he had some moved to another residence). On June 24, 2021, boxes in the Lake Room were moved to the storage room on the ground floor. (The hallway leading to that room was accessible through multiple paths, including a doorway that was often kept open.) After the move, more than 80 boxes were stored there, according to the indictment.

During that time, Trump also had some boxes moved to Bedminster Club in New Jersey (an unauthorized location). While at the club in July 2021, Trump met with a writer and interviewer who were helping former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows write his autobiography. Trump discussed a report that outlined a plan to attack Iran. Last week, prosecutors obtained a bombshell recording of Trump discussing the document, which he knew was classified. CNN has since obtained a transcript of the recording, on which Trump discusses a document he said was written by a military official. Trump wanted to dispute media reports that the official was concerned Trump would declare an attack on Iran. “This totally wins my case,” Trump said in 2021. “Except it is like, highly confidential […] Secret. This is secret information.”

“See, as president I could’ve declassified it,” Trump said. “Now, I can’t, you know. But this is still a secret.” (This admission undercuts his later claim that he had declassified everything.)

None of the people Trump discussed this recording with had the necessary clearance to see or discuss it. And neither did the PAC representative Trump met with several weeks later. In August or September 2021, Trump showed the rep (from his political action committee) a classified map of a foreign country, discussing a military operation involving that country. The rep did not have the required security clearance or a “need to know” that information.

Trump keeps saying that he had the right to retain the documents, that he had declassified them, that he could declassify them with his mind. None of that is true. The Presidential Records Act, passed in 1978, says that presidential records are the property of the U.S. Government, not the president. It makes it a crime to conceal or intentionally destroy government property — punishable by up to three years in prison.

And it’s not like he didn’t know what was in these boxes. Per the indictment: “Between November 2021 and January 2022, NAUTA and Trump Employee 2 at TRUMP’s direction brought boxes from the Storage Room to TRUMP’s residence for TRUMP to review.” During that time, it became clear that the data wasn’t being stored securely. On Dec. 7, 2021, Nauta found several boxes had fallen in the Mar-a-Lago storage room, with their contents spilled out onto the floor.

Nauta took a photo and sent it to another employee, saying: “I opened the door and found this…” The employee responded, “Oh, no. Oh no.” (Indeed: one of the documents was marked “SECRET,” meaning that if disclosed it would pose a danger to national security.)

NARA Discovery

The National Records and Archives Administration (NARA) learned the truth about the documents in January 2022. According to the New York Times, “The National Archives discovered in January that at the end of his term, former President Donald J. Trump had taken to his home at the Mar-a-Lago resort 15 boxes from the White House that contained government documents, mementos, gifts and letters. The boxes included material subject to the Presidential Records Act, which requires that all documents and records pertaining to official business be turned over to the archives.”

In January, Nauta and another employee gathered 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago, loaded the boxes into a car, and took them to a commercial truck that would deliver them to NARA. On Feb. 18, in a letter to Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), U.S. Archivist David S. Ferriero revealed: “NARA has identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes.”

As a result, NARA referred the matter to the Department of Justice.

Investigation

On March 30, 2022, the FBI opened a criminal investigation. A federal grand jury got involved a month later. On May 11, 2022, the grand jury issued a subpoena requesting the return of all classified documents.

Meanwhile, the FBI was searching the material. According to a search warrant issued later: “From May 16-18, 2022, FBI agents conducted a preliminary review of the FIFTEEN BOXES provided to NARA and identified documents with classification markings in fourteen of the FIFTEEN BOXES. A preliminary triage of the documents revealed the following approximate numbers: 67 documents marked as CONFIDENTIAL, 92 documents marked as SECRET, and 25 documents marked as TOP SECRET.”

(If disclosure of certain information could “reasonably result” in damage to national security, the information may be marked as “CONFIDENTIAL.” When serious damage to national security is possible, the info is labeled “SECRET.” If info poses an “exceptionally grave” damage to national security, it is marked “TOP SECRET.”) So Trump had material that could gravely damage national security and held on to it even after he was asked to give it up.

In case it’s not clear enough from the details: someone could’ve been killed as a result of these secrets being revealed. “The classified documents TRUMP stored in his boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to foreign attack. The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources,” the indictment reads.

Annotated indictment document courtesy of The New York Times via http://www.newyorktimes.com

Meeting

On May 23, Trump met with two attorneys. They told Trump they needed to search for the requested documents and provide a certification saying that they’d complied with the subpoena. The indictment says that “Attorney 1” (aka Evan Corcoran) recorded Trump’s response.

“I don’t want anybody looking through my boxes,” Trump said, per Corcoran. Trump even suggested stonewalling the feds: “Well…what happens if we just don’t respond at all?” he asked. “Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” Corcoran made it clear that he would return to Mar-a-Lago and conduct a search on June 2. Trump changed his summer plans so that he’d be there.

Between May 23 and June 2, 2022, Nauta moved 64 boxes out of the storage room. After speaking with Trump on the phone on June 2, Nauta and another employee brought only 30 of those boxes to the storage room. (Federal law bans moving classified documents to unauthorized locations.) That day, Corcoran came to Mar-a-Lago and did a search. He found 38 classified documents, which he put in a Redweld envelope.

That evening, he contacted another attorney (Christina Bobb) and asked her to come to Mar-a-Lago the next morning and act as a custodian of records. Despite having not searched the boxes or the Redweld envelope, she agreed.

Search Day

Three FBI agents and a DOJ attorney visited Mar-a-Lago on June 3. In addition to counsel (lawyers for the former president), Bobb was also present. She signed a letter that reads, in part: “I am authorized to certify, on behalf of the Office of Donald J. Trump, the following:

A diligent search was conducted of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Florida;
This search was conducted after receipt of the subpoena, in order to locate any and all documents that are responsive to the subpoena;
Any and all responsive documents accompany this certification.”

That wasn’t true. All the documents weren’t turned over, and, according to MSNBC, the Iran document is STILL missing. Trump’s lawyer signed a document that made a false statement to the authorities. It said that all the White House documents were in the storage room at Mar-a-Lago and “that there were no other records stored in any private office space or other location at the Premises and that all available boxes were searched.” Agents weren’t allowed to open or look inside boxes from that storage room. (Months later, it emerged that Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran was waved off when he asked to search other rooms at Mar-a-Lago.)

Shortly after the certification, two of Trump’s lawyers (including Corcoran) handed over the Redweld envelope, which had been secured with duct tape. That same day, “NAUTA and others loaded several of TRUMP’s boxes along with other items on aircraft that flew TRUMP and his family north for the summer,” according to the indictment. (Federal law bars moving classified material to unauthorized locations.)

This is the last of five separate actions the feds say Trump took to conceal the documents and obstruct the investigation:

The Envelope (and Search)

The Redweld envelope contained 38 classified documents, including five marked CONFIDENTIAL, 16 marked SECRET, and 17 marked TOP SECRET, according to the filing. But the government soon discovered evidence that classified documents remained at the premises — and that a search of the Storage Room wouldn’t have produced all of them. “The government also developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed from the Storage Room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation.” In response, the federal government sought and obtained a search warrant on Aug. 5. Judge Reinhart found probable cause for all three crimes alleged and authorized the warrant. So the agents went down to Florida, where they performed a search.

When the FBI searched Trump’s home on Aug. 8, they seized 33 items of evidence, mostly boxes. (Three classified documents were found not in boxes, but in office desks!) Of the seized evidence, 13 boxes or containers had classified documents, yielding a total of “over 100 unique documents with classification markings.” Some of the documents had colored cover sheets.

On November 18, Garland announced that he had turned the investigation over to special counsel Jack Smith, who ultimately filed the indictment. Now, after seven months of investigation, Smith has filed federal charges against Trump — further worsening an already bad legal situation for him.

Trump is already under indictment in New York for charges related to hush money that he paid adult actress Stormy Daniels. And last month he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation in a civil case filed by writer E. Jean Carroll. This dramatic new indictment comes just 10 months after FBI agents searched Trump’s home last summer.

Indictment

The indictment charges Trump with 31 counts of retaining classified documents in violations of the Espionage Act. Trump and Nauta together are charged in counts 32-36, which include conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document, corruptly concealing a document, and conspiring to conceal (and then concealing) classified documents. Trump and Nauta are each individually charged with making false statements to authorities.

Trump relentlessly hammered former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 for having classified information on a private email server while she was secretary. He even said that she should be imprisoned. Yet Trump himself has now been indicted for mishandling classified information — and lying about it. He was arraigned in federal court on Tuesday, June 13.

The post Trump Indicted in Classified Documents Probe appeared first on Forward Times.

The post Trump Indicted in Classified Documents Probe first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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Black Artists in America, Installation Three Wraps at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens

TRI-STATE DEFENDER — With 50+ paintings, sculptures and assemblages, the exhibit features artists like Varnette Honeywood from Los Angeles, whose pieces appeared in Bill Coby’s private collection (before they were auctioned off) and on “The Cosby Show.” Also included are works by Alonzo Davis, another Los Angeles artist who opened one of the first galleries there where Black Artists could exhibit.

Published

1 week ago

March 24, 2026

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By Candace A. Gray | Tri-State Defender

The tulips gleefully greet those who enter the gates at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens on an almost spring day. More than 650,000 bulbs of various hues are currently on display. And they are truly breathtaking.

Inside the gallery, and equally as breathtaking, is the “Black Artists in America, From the Bicentennial to September 11” exhibit, which runs through Sunday, March 29. This is the third installment of a three-part series that started years ago and illustrates part of the Black experience through visual arts in the 20th century.

“This story picks up where part two left off,’’ said Kevin Sharp, the Linda W. and S. Herbert Rhea director for the Dixon. “This era is when we really start to see the emergence of these important Black artists’ agency and freedom shine through. They start to say and express what they want to, and it was a really beautiful time.”

With 50+ paintings, sculptures and assemblages, the exhibit features artists like Varnette Honeywood from Los Angeles, whose pieces appeared in Bill Coby’s private collection (before they were auctioned off) and on “The Cosby Show.” Also included are works by Alonzo Davis, another Los Angeles artist who opened one of the first galleries there where Black Artists could exhibit.

“Though [Davis] was from LA, he actually lived in Memphis for a decade,” said Sharp. “He was a dean at Memphis College of Art, and later opened the first gallery in New York owned and operated by black curators.”

Another featured artist is former NFL player, Ernie Barnes. His work is distinctive. Where have you seen one of his most popular paintings, Sugar Shack? On the end scene and credits of the hit show “Good Times.” His piece Saturday Night, Durham, North Carolina, 1974 is in this collection.

Memphis native James Little’s “The War Baby: The Triptych” is among more than 50 works featured in “Black Artists in America, From the Bicentennial to September 11” at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, the final installment of a three-part series highlighting the impact and evolution of Black artists through 2011.

The exhibit features other artists with Memphis ties, including abstract painter James Little, who was raised in a segregated Memphis and attended Memphis Academy of Art (before it was Memphis College of Art). He later moved to New York, became a teacher and an internationally acclaimed fixture in the art world in 2022 when he was named a Whitney Biennial selected artist at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Other artists like Romare Bearden, who had a Southern experience but lived up North, were featured in all three installments.

“During this period of time, he was a major figure,” said Sharp. “He wrote one of the first books on the history of African American art during a time when there were more Black academics, art teachers, more Black everything!”

Speaking of Black educators, Sharp said the head curator behind this tri-part series and Dixon’s partner in the arts is Earnestine Jenkins, Ph.D., an art history professor at the University of Memphis, who also earned a Master of Arts degree from Memphis State University (now UofM). “We began working with Dr. Jenkins in 2018,” he said.

Sharp explained that it takes a team of curators, registrars, counterparts at other museums, and more, about three years to assemble an exhibit like this. It came together quite seamlessly, he added. Each room conjured up more jaw-dropping “wows” than the one before it. Each piece worked with the others to tell the story of Black people and their collective experience during this time period.

One of the last artists about whom Sharp shared information was Bettye Saar, who will turn 100 years old this year. She’s been working in Los Angeles for 80 years and is finally getting her due. Her medium is collages or assemblages, and an incredible work of hers is on display. She’s married to an artist and has two daughters, also artists.

The exhibit catalogue bears some of these artists’ stories, among other scholarly information.

The exhibit, presented by the Joe Orgill Family Fund for Exhibitions, is culturally and colorfully rich. It is a must see and admission to the Dixon is free.

Visit https://www.dixon.org/ to learn more.

Fun Facts: An original James Little design lives in the flooring of the basketball court at Tom Lee Park, and he makes and mixes his own paint colors.

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Grief, Advocacy, and Education: A Counselor Reflects on Black Maternal Health

SAN DIEGO VOICE & VIEWPOINT — Last month healthcare leaders, birth workers, and community members gathered to honor the legacy of Charleston native Dr. Janell Green Smith, a nurse-midwife and doctor of nursing practice who died in January from childbirth complications. She had participated in more than 300 births and specialized in helping Black women give birth safely.

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1 week ago

March 24, 2026

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By Jennifer Porter Gore | Word-In-Black | San Diego Voice and Viewpoint

In 2024, the number of U.S. mothers who died as a result of pregnancy or childbirth dropped compared to 2023. But while slightly fewer Black mothers died that year, they still had three times the mortality rate of white women.

South Carolina’s rates of maternal deaths outpaced even the national rates. In fact, the state’s overall rate of maternal deaths between 2019 and 2023 was higher than all but eight states and the District of Columbia.

Last month healthcare leaders, birth workers, and community members gathered to honor the legacy of Charleston native Dr. Janell Green Smith, a nurse-midwife and doctor of nursing practice who died in January from childbirth complications. She had participated in more than 300 births and specialized in helping Black women give birth safely.

Her death shocked the community and her colleagues who are determined to address concerns about Black maternal health. The event also covered the importance of protecting mental health during grief and of men’s role in solving the maternal health crisis.

As both a therapist and a father, Lawrence Lovell, a licensed professional counselor and founder of Breakthrough Solutions, discussed ways the event’s attendees could process their grief over Green Smith’s death. He also shared ways male partners can advocate for women’s maternal health during pregnancy and childbirth.

Lovell spoke not just as a therapist but also as a father whose own family had briefly crossed paths with Green Smith. The event, he said, emerged organically from a moment of collective mourning.

Despite the grief, “it was still, like, a really beautiful event, a much-needed event, and it almost felt like we were all giving each other a collective family hug,” says Lovell.

His connection to Green Smith, Lovell says, was brief but meaningful during his wife’s pregnancy with their second child. Green Smith was practicing at the same birthing center where they had their child. She began practicing in Greenville a short time later.Even that short connection carried significance for Lovell, given the small number of Black maternal health professionals.

Lovell did not initially plan to become a mental health practitioner; he chose the career path after graduating from college, when someone suggested he consider psychology. His interest deepened when he noticed how few Black men work in mental health.

“Being Black man and playing football in college, there weren’t a lot of people that look like me talking about mental health,” says Lovell. “[I wanted] to give people that look like me an opportunity to work with someone that looks like them.”

Working with Expectant and New Parents

Lovell often counsels couples preparing for parenthood by, helping partners understand what a successful pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum recovery look like. That often means helping women manage postpartum depression.

As a man, Lovell says, it’s “humbling” that a woman “just trusts me enough to work with me through their pregnancy or their postpartum recovery.”

In his work, Lovell has noticed how few men understand pregnancy before they experience it with their partner. Because early pregnancy symptoms are often invisible, he says, men may underestimate how much support a mom-to-be actually needs.

“Sometimes they may not realize they don’t know much about pregnancy and what to expect in those three trimesters,” Lovell says. “I tell a lot of the men that just because you can’t see [she’s pregnant] doesn’t mean that she won’t appreciate your intense support in that first trimester.”

Education about pregnancy and postpartum recovery, he says, can change how men support their partners.

Teaching Advocacy in the Delivery Room

Another major focus of Lovell’s counseling is preparing men to advocate for mothers during labor.

“Helping men understand what pregnancy looks like: what delivery is going to look like, and what are the realistic expectations that I should have of myself in postpartum,” he says.

Lovell encourages partners to be honest about their expectations for what will happen during delivery. He helps them prepare for the big day by discussing the birth plan and knowing how to quickly recognize problems. Clear communication, he says, prevents misunderstandings.

He regularly trains men to ask their partners detailed questions about their expectations during and after pregnancy. Advocacy in medical settings can be especially important and requires attention to details the mother may not be able to address.

“It’s always important to fine-tune things and truly understand what helps your partner feel most supported,” Lovell says. “Instead of guessing, you should ask.”

Lovell recalls a moment during the birth of his first child when he had to take that role.

During the delivery, “I felt like something wasn’t as sanitary as I’d like it to be,” he says. “I asked, ‘Hey, can you switch those out? Can you change your gloves?’”

Lovell has a succinct but powerful message he regularly shares with clients’ families, and he shared it with attendees at last month’s event.

“Just to believe women,” he says. “I’ve worked with different couples, and sometimes I’m not really sure that there’s enough empathy from the men.”

That includes how women express pain.

“If a woman says, ‘my pain is at a nine,’ just because how you would express yourself at a nine is different than how she’s expressing herself at [that level] doesn’t mean you shouldn’t believe her,” he says.

Empathy, he says, can change outcomes far beyond the delivery room.

“We’ve got to believe women when they’re talking about their experiences and their feelings and their pain,” he says. “I think there’s a lot that we can prevent if we empathize better.”

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Future of Florida’s Black History Museum in Limbo

JACKSONVILLE FREE PRESS — A proposal sponsored by Tom Leek, a Republican from Ormond Beach, has now passed the Senate in back-to-back legislative sessions. But the House version, filed by Kiyan Michael, a Jacksonville Republican, did not receive final approval in either year, effectively stalling the effort.

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1 week ago

March 24, 2026

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Jacksonville Free Press

Plans to establish a long-awaited Black history museum in Florida are once again on hold after legislation needed to advance the project failed to clear the state House for a second consecutive year, despite repeated approval in the Senate.

A proposal sponsored by Tom Leek, a Republican from Ormond Beach, has now passed the Senate in back-to-back legislative sessions. But the House version, filed by Kiyan Michael, a Jacksonville Republican, did not receive final approval in either year, effectively stalling the effort.

Under Florida law, identical or similar bills must pass both chambers before heading to the governor’s desk. Without House approval, the legislation has been unable to move forward, leaving the project in limbo. Long journey, contested location.

The proposed museum, formally known as the Florida Museum of Black History, has been years in the making, with lawmakers and community leaders framing it as a long-overdue institution to preserve and showcase the state’s African American heritage .A central point of contention has been the museum’s location. St. Augustine — widely recognized as the nation’s oldest city and a site deeply tied to both slavery and early Black history — emerged as the leading contender. Supporters argue the city’s historical significance makes it a natural home for the museum. However, competing interests and regional considerations have fueled debate, slowing consensus among lawmakers.

While the Senate-backed measure has consistently advanced, the lack of alignment in the House has underscored ongoing divisions about how and where the project should take shape.

The holdup in the Florida House appears to be less about opposition to the museum itself and more about a combination of procedural bottlenecks, unresolved structural issues, and lingering disagreements over how the project should be formalized and governed.

Despite the legislative setbacks, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has publicly voiced support for the museum. Speaking last month during the unveiling of a statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass in St. Augustine, DeSantis said the project would move forward “one way or another,” signaling an intent to see the museum built regardless of legislative hurdles.

The anticipated museum has already cleared several hurdles. St. Johns County signed an agreement last year with Florida Memorial University to use the land that once housed its campus last year’s legislative session netted $1 million in funding for St. Johns County to work on planning and design for the museum. However, its anticipated that a million $3 million is needed.

Still, without statutory approval to finalize key components — including governance, funding mechanisms and site selection — the project remains largely conceptual.
With the House bill failing again, the timeline for the museum’s development is unclear. Lawmakers could revisit the proposal in the next legislative session, but any further delays risk pushing the project back several more years. Advocates warn that continued inaction could stall momentum for a museum many see as critical to telling a fuller, more accurate story of Florida’s past. For now, the effort remains paused — caught between political support at the top and legislative gridlock within the Capitol.