After months of investigation, a Miami grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump on seven counts classified documents case on Thursday.
The case includes 31 counts under the Espionage Act of 1917, according to Trump’s attorney Jim Trusty. Trusty and John Rowley abruptly resigned on Friday following the indictment.
The Espionage Act is a century-old law used to prosecute spies and those who leak confidential information that threatens national security. It often results in prison sentences. In the case of Trump, it refers to a section that makes it illegal to remove, copy, or share sensitive government information. The violation of this section of the espionage act can put the suspect in prison for up to ten years.
The charge comes after months of investigations began last August. The FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence for roughly two dozen boxes of classified documents taken from the White House. Special Counsel Jack Smith has led the case.
Trusty and Rowley, who led Trump’s D.C. legal team, abruptly resigned on Friday morning hours after the indictment. Trusty appeared on CNN before he resigned and revealed the charges, including the violations of the Espionage Act, which he called “ludicrous.”
Trump responded to the indictment in a video posted to his social media platform Truth Social. “I am an innocent man. I did nothing wrong,” he said.
