Trump arrives at Miami federal court for hearing in classified documents case
Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrived at the Miami courthouse, where the first hearing of a court proceeding in which he must answer for 37 federal charges against him.
As shown by US television pictures, at around 1.30 p.m. (17.30 GMT). a motorcade of vehicles transported Trump from the Trump National Doral Miami, the hotel where the former president (2017-2021) spent the night and where groups of supporters gathered.
The entourage was accompanied by police vehicles on their way to the federal courthouse where at 3 p.m. (19.00 GMT) the court hearing is scheduled to begin. The motorcade arrived at the court about half an hour later, amid heavy security measures.
U.S. marshals are expected to to be fingerprinted Trump and, as announced to EFE and the media stationed at the courthouse, it is not certain that a mugshot will be taken and, if it is taken, it will not be released.
In the courtroom, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman will notify him of the 37 counts that a grand jury has indicted him on, 31 of which pertain to the felony offense of willful withholding of information of national defense.
Since early Tuesday morning, supporters of the former president have been gathering outside the courthouse with T-shirts and posters, where a strong police presence was present and no incidents have been reported.
The president, who in the courtroom predictably will plead not guiltyThe accusation led by special prosecutor Jack Smith is attributed to a “great witch hunt” launched by the current U.S. president, Democrat Joe Biden, and which responds to a campaign of “electoral interference”, as he reiterated today on his social network.
The other charges Trump faces are for. conspiracy to obstruct justice“corrupt” concealment of a document or record, concealment of a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and false statement and representation.
According to the 49-page document containing the indictment, the most serious offenses charged against Trump, such as obstruction of justice and conspiracy, are. punishable by up to 20 years in prison. and fines of up to $250,000 (€232,500) and the less serious ones, such as conspiracy to conceal, with 5 years imprisonment and the same financial penalty.
The investigation, led by special prosecutor Jack Smith, was launched in 2022 following a search conducted at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s home in Palm Beach (Florida), by FBI agents. They found more than 11,000 official documentsamong which there were a hundred catalogued as secret or “top secret”.
