Former US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that his legal team has been told he has been charged in an investigation into his handling of classified documents.
Trump told the Truth Social network that he was summoned to federal court in Miami on Tuesday afternoon.
“I never thought it possible that something like this could happen to a former president of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country, and who is ahead of currently, by far, every candidate, both Democrat and Republican, in the polls for the 2024 presidential election. I AM AN INNOCENT MAN! ,” Trump wrote on the social media platform.
“It is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will make America great! “, he added.
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith oversaw the investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents.
Trump’s attorneys met earlier this week with Justice Department officials, including Smith.
Experts widely viewed the meeting as a sign that Smith’s investigation was coming to an end.
The National Archives Department spent months recovering presidential files after Trump’s departure, with Trump’s team eventually turning over a tranche that included nearly 200 classified documents.
This sparked the Justice Department’s investigation which included a subpoena and eventually proceeded to search Trump’s Palm Beach property in August 2022, where the FBI found more than 100 other classified documents.
Trump’s team in June had turned over only 38 classified files when asked to turn over all remaining classified documents.
The warrant the FBI obtained to search the property said it expected to find evidence to support violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice, as well as another law prohibiting the retention of government records.
Trump’s message does not specify what charges he has been charged with.
Trump was indicted in a court in New York in an improper payments case earlier this year.