Former President Donald Trump is facing more charges over classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The new charges have been added by prosecutors working with special counsel Jack Smith.
Additional charges include two counts of obstruction. It has been alleged that Trump tried to get rid of security camera footage at Mar-a-Lago that was needed by a federal grand jury to investigate.
Trump already faces 37 felony charges, including 31 counts of knowingly possessing classified documents and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claims the prosecution is a politically motivated “witch hunt” against him. Trump made the comments in an interview with Breitbart on Thursday.
Now, Trump faces a total of eight counts of attempting to obstruct a Justice Department investigation.
The new document also mentions another person involved in the case, Carlos de Oliveira. He worked as a property manager and server at Mar-a-Lago. De Oliveira faces three charges, including altering or destroying an object, corruptly altering or destroying a document, and making false statements during an interview with federal investigators.
A superseding indictment is an amended version of the original indictment, listing the charges against the defendant. The grand jury approved the new indictment after receiving more information or evidence. Usually, it adds more charges or names more people involved in the case. Sometimes, minor details are omitted from the original indictment, but this is rare.
The new allegations show that the case against Trump is expanding. He was charged for the first time in the case last month. He was also named in the initial indictment along with his aide Walt Nota. Prosecutors accused Nota of colluding with Carlos de Oliveira to obstruct the investigation.
Both Trump and Nota have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Carlos de Oliveira is scheduled to be formally charged next week in Miami.
