What are the criminal charges against the former president?

Former US President Donald Trump is facing transgression charges implicit his handling of classified documents aft helium near the White House.

It is the 2nd indictment of Mr Trump and the first-ever national indictment of a erstwhile president.

The details of the charges related to files recovered astatine his Mar-a-Lago location successful August 2022 person not been released.

But Mr Trump's attorney, Jim Trusty, confirmed 7 counts, including an espionage charge, respective obstruction charges and mendacious connection charges. He described them arsenic "ludicrous".

We volition find retired much erstwhile Mr Trump appears successful a Miami tribunal connected Tuesday, but present is what we cognize truthful far.

Mr Trump is expected to beryllium charged with wilful retention of nationalist defence information, according to US media reports.

While espionage has sinister connotations of spying and skulduggery, it is the benignant of complaint that has besides been utilized successful the past to prosecute individuals who person been criminally careless with important authorities documents.

Mr Trump has repeatedly said helium "declassified" documents earlier bringing them home. But Bradley Moss, a nationalist information lawyer, says that statement won't clasp up against the Espionage Act, which does not really notation to classifications specified arsenic "Top Secret".

Instead, the authorities indispensable beryllium that the accusation was a substance of nationalist defence. Mr Moss says the authorities has ever succeeded successful doing truthful successful akin cases.

The biggest situation facing prosecutors is whether they tin beryllium Mr Trump knowingly and intentionally violated the law, according to David Super, a prof astatine Georgetown University Law Center.

He said Mr Trump's defence squad was apt to reason the erstwhile president was conscionable a "really atrocious record clerk".

"Wilful retention is not accidental, negligent, oregon reckless," according to the Journal of National Security Law and Policy. "Rather, a suspect lone retains NDI wilfully if helium oregon she knows helium oregon she possesses it and knows that specified possession is prohibited owed to the quality of the information."

There were reports past week that prosecutors had obtained an audio signaling of Mr Trump successful which helium acknowledged keeping a papers detailing US penetration plans for Iran but could not stock it due to the fact that it was classified.

If true, Professor Super says, that could beryllium grounds that Mr Trump understood precisely however declassification works, "and that the papers that helium seemingly was gesturing towards was inactive classified".

In an interrogation with CNN connected Tuesday evening, Mr Trump's lawyer said the summons they had received from national prosecutors included respective different charges linked to the archetypal Espionage Act count.

Mr Trusty said determination were "several obstruction-based benignant charges and past mendacious connection charges", and described each of the counts arsenic "kind of a brainsick stretch".

Experts accidental these charges would beryllium built astir the allegation that the erstwhile president did not afloat co-operate with a national subpoena instructing him to crook implicit each the classified worldly successful his possession.

Mr Trump's aides provided the authorities with boxes containing 222 classified documents past year. When the FBI executed a hunt warrant of Mar-a-Lago successful August, however, agents discovered an further 103 classified documents, including 18 marked "top secret".

There person besides been reports that prosecutors person sought surveillance tapes from Mr Trump's Florida home, which could incorporate video grounds of documents - oregon boxes - being moved oregon accessed.

Aides and lawyers for the erstwhile president person testified earlier expansive juries implicit the past year, and their accounts could beryllium cited arsenic grounds against Mr Trump. Their grounds could see whether they told Mr Trump that helium had to instrumentality subpoenaed documents oregon advised Mr Trump not to contented what they mightiness person viewed arsenic misleading statements that helium had afloat complied with the authorities requests.

The transgression penalties Mr Trump would look depends connected the nonstop quality of the charges brought against him, but they would see immoderate operation of fines and jailhouse time.

An obstruction of justness complaint includes fines and a recommended condemnation of "not much than 20 years" - but usually overmuch less.

Espionage Act violations effect successful fines and situation for up to 10 years.

Nothing successful national instrumentality oregon the constitution would forestall Mr Trump from continuing to run for president if helium is indicted connected national charges. His run has continued unabated aft helium was indicted successful a antithetic lawsuit by a New York City authoritative successful April.