The Justice Department on Friday unsealed an indictment of the former president, charging that he improperly took and obstructed the government’s efforts to retrieve hundreds of secret documents — some of them related to U.S. nuclear weapons operations and national defense vulnerabilities — and kept them in unsecured areas of his Florida estate, including a bathroom, ballroom and storage room. The Mar-a-Lago property is home to a private club that hosts thousands of people each year.
Trump’s personal aide Walt Nauta was also indicted on charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheming to conceal and making false statements and representations.
The case has been initially assigned to Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee who was criticized for ruling in his favor during a dispute last year over a special master assigned to review the seized classified documents. Her rulings, which delayed the investigation for several weeks, were overturned by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly called the charges a witch hunt intended to keep him from winning back the presidency in 2024. On Monday, Trump said in a social media post that if elected he will appoint a “special ‘prosecutor’ to go after” President Biden, his family and others. A president does not have the power to appoint a special counsel; that authority lies with the U.S. attorney general.
Police temporarily pushed Trump supporters out of the plaza of the the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Federal Courthouse on Tuesday. Several news outlets reported a bomb threat had been made. Earlier, prominent right-wing figures who called on supporters to protest were giving speeches.
Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales said in a news conference that his officers were prepared for a crowd of up to 50,000 people Tuesday. Security guards and federal officers were stationed outside the courthouse on Monday.
“Make no mistake about it, we’re taking this event extremely serious,” Morales said. “We know that there is a potential of things taking a turn for the worst, but that’s not the Miami way.”
Several of Trump’s Republican allies in Congress, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), planned a public event before the former president’s court appearance to discuss the indictment and the ongoing prosecutions of people who entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) announced on the House floor Monday that she plans to introduce an appropriations rider to defund the special counsel’s investigation. Such a measure is unlikely to be approved by the Senate, where Democrats hold a majority.
The Southern District of Florida does not normally allow reporters to take photos, video or audio recordings of court proceedings. Late Monday, a federal magistrate judge rejected a request by coalition of media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, to allow photography and video recording in the courtroom and surrounding hallways on Tuesday, saying that “allowing photographs would undermine the massive security arrangements put in place.”
The magistrate judge also denied a request to immediately release an audio recording of all proceedings in the case. The judge stated that a transcript is expected to be made available Tuesday.
Chief U.S. judge for Southern District of Florida Cecilia Altonaga also ruled late Monday that reporters cannot take any cellphones or electronic devices into the courthouse for Trump’s arraignment. Normally reporters are exempt from the rule banning electronic devices.