OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump announced on Thursday night that he has been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on charges connected to his handling of classified materials that were found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last August.
In a series of posts on his Truth Social, Trump said he has been summoned to federal court on Tuesday in Miami.
“The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax, even though 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,” he wrote.
“Page 2: I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM. 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. I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” he added.
“Page 3: This 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 Again!” Trump added in his final post.
Earlier this week, Trump spoke out publicly after a team of his lawyers met with Justice Department officials on Monday in connection to a federal investigation into his handling of classified materials.
“How can DOJ possibly charge me, who did nothing wrong, when no other presidents were charged,” Trump noted on his Truth Social platform in all caps.
He posted his response just moments after his legal team was seen leaving a meeting at the DOJ, an indication that the probe is nearing an end.
As NBC News reported, Trump went on to point out that his 2016 Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton was investigated by the FBI for possessing classified information on her private email server but “wasn’t even close to being charged! Only Trump — the greatest witch hunt of all time!”
The outlet added:
Trump posted the early afternoon remarks shortly after three of his lawyers — James Trusty, John Rowley and Lindsey Halligan — were seen leaving the Justice Department. The trio met with special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the probe, and other officials, a person familiar with the matter said. Neither Attorney General Merrick Garland nor Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco were present, NBC News confirmed.
The investigation culminated in an unprecedented FBI raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in August, which was roundly criticized at the time.
During an interview on then-network colleague Jesse Watters’ “Primetime” program, Dan Bongino went ballistic on the Biden administration and the Justice Department, which he accused of becoming highly politicized in recent years, describing the raid as “third-world bullshit.”
According to Fox News, the raid “was in connection with materials that Trump took with him from his time as president.” The outlet quoted other sources who said the “National Archives and Records Administration referred the case to the Justice Department,” and agents “recovered 15 boxes of classified materials from” Trump’s estate, the outlet continued.
Last month, some Republicans suggested that the Republican-led House jump-start new investigations into Clinton after special counsel John Durham’s report cited her campaign as being responsible for the phony ‘Russian collusion’ allegations against her rival, Donald Trump.
“The media was in on this from the beginning, in my view. They’re the ones who were willing to launder out Hillary Clinton’s phony, made-up information about Donald Trump,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) told Fox News, adding it was “the same information that she used with her friends at the upper echelon of the FBI to start the ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ investigation.”
Ahead of the 2016 election, the Justice Department and elements within the FBI had launched at least four investigations into the Clinton Foundation and Hillary herself, who was accused of violating laws governing the handling of classified materials after it was discovered that she had her own personal email server located in her New York home while serving as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state.
She was also under investigation for allegedly destroying classified materials and emails that were under congressional subpoena.
