The charges against Trump stem from an investigation that began after Trump allegedly spurned repeated efforts by the National Archives to take possession of the documents that he had taken from the White House and kept at Mar-a-Lago.

The federal indictment accuses Trump of 31 counts of “willful retention” of classified national defense information, each for a different document that he took from the White House.

Twenty-one of those documents were among the more than 100 that the FBI recovered during a search of Mar-a-Lago last August.

The indictment says the documents contained information about U.S. nuclear programs, the potential vulnerability of the U.S. and its allies to an attack and plans for a possible response. Their disclosure, the indictment says, could endanger U.S. national security.

The six other charges against Trump — which include counts of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements — are related to efforts by Trump to obstruct the investigation and conceal his retention of classified documents.

Trump has claimed that he had an order to declassify all documents taken from the Oval Office to his residence in the White House.

But the indictment says Trump was well aware of laws governing classified national security information and willfully flouted them.

In one case, in July 2021, Trump allegedly showed a document about a "plan of attack" to a group of four unauthorized people — a writer, publisher and two staff members — at his New Jersey golf club, telling them it was “highly confidential” and “secret” and that he could no longer declassify it.

In another instance, in September 2021, Trump showed a classified map to a representative of his political action committee, telling him that he “should not be showing it to (him) and that (he) should not get too close,” according to the indictment.

After his arraignment, Trump will be released on his own recognizance. The start date of his trial remains uncertain. Some experts speculate that it could take months to begin and might even be postponed until after the 2024 election.

Despite his growing legal troubles, however, Trump is free to pursue his presidential bid and has vowed to continue campaigning even if he is found guilty.

“I'll never leave,” Trump told Politico in an interview Saturday.

Trump is reportedly planning to fly to New Jersey following his arraignment where he'll host the first fundraiser for his campaign at his golf club. (VOA)

•PHOTO: FILE - This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice on Aug. 30, 2022, and partially redacted by the source, shows a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8, 2022, FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

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