Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that the Department of Justice informed his legal team that a federal grand jury in Miami, Florida, had indicted him.
Through his social media platform Truth Social, Trump asserted that he was summoned to appear before the David W. Dyer Federal Building and United States Courthouse on Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET.
The former president did not confirm whether the indictment was related to the sensitive files discovered at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, but suggested it was likely the case.
Multiple sources told The New York Times that Trump was charged with a total of seven counts, including willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act and conspiracy to obstruct.
The office of John L. Smith, head of the Department of Justice's special counsel investigating the Mar-a-Lago documents and Trump's behavior in and around the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, reportedly filed the indictment.
Later in Trump's Truth Social statement, the former president slammed what he called the double standard by the Department of Justice in not pursuing the special counsel probing President Joe Biden's classified files as intensely.
"Joe Biden has 1850 Boxes at the University of Delaware, additional Boxes in Chinatown, D.C., with even more Boxes at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents strewn all over his garage floor where he parks his Corvette, and which is 'secured' by only a garage door that is paper thin, and open much of the time," Trump said.
Seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, Trump referenced polling that shows him leading Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and Biden and pleaded his innocence.
"I never thought it possible that such a thing 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 is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election," the former president stated.
"This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America," he continued. "We are a Country in serious and rapid Decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!"
Reports of the imminent indictment by special counsel Smith surfaced earlier this week, but Trump's statement is the first official indication from either side.
The Department of Justice has not yet responded or confirmed Trump's claims.
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