(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump was arraigned on federal charges in Miami on Tuesday, the first time in history a former president has faced a federal indictment. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Trump is facing 37 charges related to classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home. According to prosecutors, Trump retained classified documents related to national defense, refused to turn the documents over to the National Archives when requested, and obstructed a federal investigation to locate the material. Trump has maintained his innocence and called the charges a political move.
Follow here for news and analysis of the arraignment:
NEWS: New courtroom sketches show former President Donald Trump and aide Waltine Nauta appearing before the judge in a federal courtroom.
NEWS: After exiting the federal courthouse where he was arraigned on 37 felony charges, former President Donald Trump headed to the Versailles Cuban Bakery.
Trump was greeted with jeers and cheers from the crowd at the restaurant, which is a common political meeting place.
He prayed with supporters and took photos with customers before reminding the crowd he would be making remarks later Tuesday evening.
NEWS: In a federal courthouse in Miami, Trump aide Waltine Nauta was not arraigned because he lacked proper counsel. He is expected to return on June 27.
Nauta and Trump arrived together and both are charged in the indictment, with Nauta accused of being the one to actually move boxes containing classified materials in an attempt to conceal them.
Trump and Nauta are allowed to continue to speak to each other, but the judge prohibited them from discussing the case.
In court, Trump did not speak, though he did smirk and laugh while speaking to his attorney at one point.
NEWS: Former President Donald Trump left a federal courthouse in Miami after pleading not guilty to 37 felony charges related to improperly withholding classified documents.
Trump was allowed to leave the court without any travel or legal restrictions and no cash bond was issued.
Trump was also told he was not allowed to reach out to any potential witnesses in the case. Some close associates of Trump’s were listed in the indictment and could be potential witnesses when the case goes to trial.
Trump is set to return to New Jersey, where he will deliver remarks from his Bedminster golf club at 8:15 p.m.
NEWS: Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, has vowed to hold up judicial nominees until Attorney General Merrick Garland “stops using his agency to harass Joe Biden’s political opponents.”
A number of prominent Republicans have joined former President Donald Trump in referring to the case as the “weaponization” of the Justice Department. They claim Trump was targeted while Democrats who were also found with classified materials did not face the same charges.
It’s not clear exactly what actions Garland would need to take to get Vance to back down.
NEWS: Immediately after former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 felony charges related to retaining classified documents and obstructing justice, his campaign sent a fundraising email proclaiming his innocence.
The email accused Democrats of wanting to jail their main challenger in a politically-motivated case.
“His only offense is having the audacity to challenge the corrupt Washington ruling class and fight for the forgotten men and women of our country,” the email from Donald Trump, Jr. read.
When Trump was indicted in New York on charges of falsifying business records, his campaign saw a fundraising boost from similar tactics.
NEWS: Waltine Nauda, aide to former President Donald Trump, has pleaded not guilty to six charges.
Nauta is named in the indictment alongside Trump and is accused of having been the one to actually move the boxes containing sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Prosecutors allege that in addition to holding onto classified documents he was not allowed to have, Trump, with Nauta’s help, attempted to conceal those materials from his own attorneys to avoid turning them over to federal investigators.
ANALYSIS: Former President Donald Trump has maintained his innocence when it comes to classified documents the FBI seized from his home.
Former prosecutor Kristy Greenberg told NewsNation that Trump’s intent will be critical when it comes to whether he committed a crime.
Once he was no longer president, Trump had no authority to keep the classified documents, Greenberg said, and the indictment shows he was aware of that fact.
“These are really sensitive and important documents,” Greenberg said.
The documents posed a tremendous national security risk, Greenberg said, when stored at Mar-a-Lago in places where guests could have potentially had access to them.
ANALYSIS: Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 felony charges related to classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home.
Trump’s portrayal of the case as a witchhunt against him has played well with the Republican base, and it’s likely to be a part of his campaign for the 2024 presidential nomination.
But when it comes to the general election, Democrats may also face the challenge of explaining why Trump was charged when other politicians who were found to have classified documents were not.
Former Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the handling of classified material should be taken very seriously, but it should be applied equally.
“We’re seeing it play out in these national polls,” Spicer said. “There’s a lot of people in the middle who say gosh, I don’t entirely like Trump but I believe that they are weaponizing the system to go after him when they didn’t do the same to people on the left.”
NEWS: Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 charges related to classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago.
He is the first former president to be indicted on federal charges.
ANALYSIS: Trump aide Waltine Nauta is also charged in the indictment, facing six charges involving his role in concealing classified documents. One question that remains is whether or not Nauta will break away and separate his defense.
“The fact that he showed up at the courthouse speaks volumes,” former federal prosecutor Will Scharf said.
The prosecution is likely to be pressuring Nauta to cooperate and testify against Trump, Scharf said.
Nauta’s loyalty to Trump may be a sign of how he views the case, Scharf told NewsNation. If he believes he is likely to face serious consequences, he may be more likely to separate and form his own defense, Scharf said. But if Nauta views the indictment as baseless, he may be more likely to stick with a joint defense.
NEWS: Former President Donald Trump has entered the courtroom where he is set to be arraigned on 37 felony charges and the hearing is underway.
The charges stem from classified documents the FBI seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
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NEWS: Former President Donald Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, addressed the media outside the Miami Federal courthouse Tuesday afternoon, ahead of his court appearance.
The former president is expected to plead not guilty and Habba took a familiar track in her statement, attacking President Joe Biden’s administration for the “unapologetic weaponization of the criminal justice system.”
“The decision to pursue charges against President Trump, while turning a blind eye to others, is emblematic of the corruption that we have here,” she said. “These are not the ideas that our democracy is founded upon. This is not our America,” she added.
She went on to say Trump would not need a mug shot as part of criminal proceedings.
“President Trump is in a very unique position where he doesn’t need to be given a mug shot. Obviously, he’s not a flight risk he is the leading candidate of the GOP at the moment,” she said. “He is going through a process that has been coordinated with Secret Service and it will all be handled seamlessly.”
ANALYSIS: While Trump may be able to fundraise off of outrage over his indictment, that doesn’t mean some of his supporters may not shift their alliances to his competitors.
May Mailman, former White House counsel for the Trump White House, said some of Trump’s primary challenges could take strategic steps to try to lure voters away from Trump as he is mired in legal trouble.
She said it’s possible the Republicans could also use the perceived double standard of justice when it comes to the general election. Trump has attacked prosecutors, asking why he has been charged when Hillary Clinton was not.
“Nobody has explained the Hillary Clinton situation in a way that is sufficient,” Mailman said.
NEWS: According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Trump and aide Waltine Nauta were booked shortly after arriving at the courthouse on Tuesday.
The men arrived at the courthouse together and will be arraigned on federal charges relating to classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.