Several US media outlets, including CNN, have reported that federal prosecutors have told Donald Trump’s lawyers that the former president has been personally targeted in an investigation into the management of the White House archives. The New York Times.

The new move opens the way for possible impeachment against the former US president, an additional legal thorn in the side for those hoping to win a new mandate in 2024. “Secret-Protection,” after leaving Washington in 2021 and refusing to return them in violation of federal laws. US media did not say when the former president was informed, but according to CNN, his lawyers met with Justice Department officials on Monday, including special counsel Jack Smith, who is tasked with independently overseeing the investigation.

Donald Trump, currently ahead of the other candidates for the Republican nomination, has always defended himself against any fraud and presented himself as a victim. “Political Persecution”. “How can the Judiciary blame me when I have done nothing”He wrote on Monday on the Truth social network that his lawyers were received by the officials of this ministry.

11,000 documents, some of them very important

In the United States, a 1978 law requires all US presidents to turn over their letters, emails, and other working documents to the National Archives. Another law related to espionage prohibits anyone from keeping classified documents in unauthorized and unsecured locations. When Donald Trump left the presidency to settle in the luxurious Mar-a-Lago home, he took full boxes of files with him. In January 2022, after several reminders, he agreed to return 15 boxes containing more than 200 classified documents. In a letter, his lawyers assured that there were no others.

After the investigation, federal police estimated that he had not returned everything and that he had more at his Palm Beach club. FBI agents went there on August 8 and seized about thirty boxes containing 11,000 documents, some of which were highly sensitive to Iran or China. His attorneys slammed the FBI for scathingly condemning a media operation that, according to them, showed a photo of seized documents labeled “Top Secret” and strewn across a carpet with a floral pattern.

“Embarrassing Inventions”

To silence conspiracy allegations, Justice Secretary Merrick Garland appointed special prosecutor Jack Smith to oversee the investigation, as well as another into Donald Trump’s role in the Capitol attack. Another special counsel is investigating parallel classified documents discovered earlier this year in a former office and home of Democratic President Joe Biden by his lawyers. These embarrassing findings, along with others from former Vice President Mike Pence, have allowed Donald Trump to downplay his behavior, while Joe Biden has always cooperated with justice, voluntarily returning a very small number of documents.

The Republican Tribune used his rival’s inventions to rally his supporters in close ranks around him every time justice struck him. A New York state judge in April charged him with falsifying accounting documents related to a $130,000 payment to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. An alleged affair. This is the first time in US history that a former president has faced criminal charges.

The Georgia state attorney general, who has been investigating Republican pressure for trying to change the 2020 presidential election for months, is expected to announce the results of his investigations by September.