The Indictment against Former US president Donald Trump Donald Trump has been unsealed revealing that he is being charged with 37 counts in the Mar-a-Lago documents case. Trump had illegally kept top secret files on US nuclear and weapons programs and defense plans after leaving the White House.
Case assigned to a Judge Trump had appointed
The new federal criminal case against former US president Donald Trump in Miami has been assigned to Federal District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by him, CNN reported citing sources.
When Cannon managed court procedures connected to the FBI's investigation of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, she came into the public eye last year.
Even among right-leaning legal experts, Cannon's handling of the conflict involving the so-called special master who examined the seized Mar-a-Lago documents raised suspicions.
Notably, Trump has been charged in the investigation into leaked secret papers and is scheduled to appear in Miami federal court on Tuesday to have the charges against him read to him, CNN reported.
The magistrate judge who authorised the Mar-a-Lago search warrant last August, Bruce Reinhart, is anticipated to preside over that hearing.
Trump intends to expand his defence team
After being charged in Miami as part of the special counsel's probe into documents, former US president Trump intends to expand his defence team with another Florida-based lawyer, according to CNN.
Jim Trusty and John Rowley, two of Trump's senior solicitors, were abruptly removed from the case on Friday (today), and Todd Blanche was appointed as the new lead.
Both subsequently resigned from the legal team entirely. Todd Blanche, a defence attorney he hired in April after being indicted in Manhattan, will represent him, Trump stated on his social media platform Truth Social, according to CNN.
(with agency inputs)
