Former US President Donald Trump has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate.

The legal move follows a months-long investigation by special counsel Jack Smith into whether Trump broke the law by holding onto hundreds of documents marked classified at his Palm Beach property Mar-a-Lago and whether he took steps to obstruct the government’s efforts to recover the records.

The former president has insisted he was entitled to keep the classified documents when he left the White House and has claimed without evidence that he had declassified them.

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Trump has branded the investigation a “witch hunt” and says it is a “dark day” for the US.

He has already been indicted in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records and faces additional investigations in Washington DC and Atlanta that could lead to criminal charges.

Last month, a civil jury found Trump sexually abused writer E Jean Carroll in the 1990s and awarded the former Elle magazine advice columnist $5m (£4m) in damages.

However, Trump and his team have long seen the special counsel investigation as posing the biggest threat – both politically and legally.

It remains unclear what the immediate and long-term political consequences will be for Trump.

Stormy Daniels (criminal)

Trump made history when he became the first former US president to face criminal charges in April.

He personally pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts as he appeared in a New York court on allegations relating to him allegedly falsifying business records in the run-up to the 2016 election.

The Manhattan criminal case centres around alleged “hush” money sent to former porn actress Stormy Daniels after she said they had an affair.

Read more:
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Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which the former US president denies.

In 2016 when he was running for president, she offered to sell her story to the press.

Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen was notified of her plans, resulting in a $130,000 (£105,000) payment being made to keep Ms Daniels quiet.

Once he was elected, Trump reimbursed Mr Cohen by paying him more than double the original amount. He continued to deny the affair, however.

New York investigators have been looking into the former president’s finances for years – originally led by former District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.

But when he was replaced with Alvin Bragg in 2022, Mr Bragg decided to drop the grand jury investigation into claims the Trump empire fraudulently inflated its real estate value.

Instead, he decided to focus on the silence money case last summer, impanelling a grand jury (one assembled in secret to determine whether there’s enough evidence to prosecute) in January.

Soon after Mr Cohen, who was jailed on several counts in 2018, was summoned by prosecutors.

According to court documents, Trump falsely listed his former lawyer’s reimbursement as “legal services”.

It is not yet known the exact charges the 76-year-old is facing, but these will be revealed when he appears in court and will likely involve accounting fraud.

Prosecutors could also indict him on campaign fraud charges – as silencing Ms Daniels’s claims could have helped propel him to power.

Trump has described the investigation as a politically motivated “witch hunt”.

Trump Organization fraud (civil)

In a separate case, the New York attorney general Letitia James is pursuing a civil lawsuit against the Trump Organization for overvaluing its real estate assets by billions.

Lodged last September, Ms James alleges members of the Trump group lied to lenders about the group’s net worth to get bigger loans.

Documents see her accuse Trump, his sons Donald Jr, Eric, and daughter Ivanka of “astounding” fraud.

She is also seeking $250m (£226m) she claims the Trumps obtained fraudulently.

The case is set to go to court in October, and while it is not a criminal case at this stage, Ms James has referred it to the district attorney as such.

The lawsuit could, however, ban Trump and his children from owning real estate in New York for five years – or being business directors or officers there.

Georgia election result (criminal)

Trump disputed the results in several states after he lost the 2020 presidential election, including Georgia where the close margin triggered a run-off.

Ahead of the Democratic victory on 5 January 2021, a phone call between Trump and the Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was leaked to the media.

In it, Trump told Mr Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes”.

This sparked a 26-member grand jury investigation into electoral fraud, racketeering and making false statements to government officials – led by Fani Willis, top prosecutor for Georgia’s Fulton County.

They spent eight months interrogating more than 70 witnesses and filed a lengthy report earlier this year.

It is not clear whether Trump would be indicted as around 20 of his allies have also been named as potential targets of the probe.

The report is being kept secret, but Ms Willis will decide whether to prosecute later this year.

Trump rejects the investigation, calling Ms Willis a “young, ambitious, Radical Left Democrat… who is presiding over one of the most Crime Ridden and Corrupt places”.

January 6 riots (criminal and civil)

In December, a congressional committee filed an 845-page report on the insurrection at the White House on 6 January 2021.

They concluded that Trump and his allies had a “multipart plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election”, including the attack on the Capitol.

It recommended Trump be indicted on four criminal charges – but this is largely symbolic as only the Department of Justice can do so.

Separately, special counsel Jack Smith is still carrying out a criminal investigation into the Capitol assault.

While Trump could be charged – he hasn’t been called for questioning yet – it is not clear what the exact focus is. But hundreds of people involved on the day have already been indicted or jailed.

Two congressmen have pursued civil lawsuits for inciting the riots on 6 January.

The first – by Mississippi Democrat Bernie Thompson – was dropped while the House committee gained momentum. But the second – by California Democrat Eric Swalwell – is ongoing.

Trump has continued to claim widescale voter fraud took place.