Trump says indicted for mishandling US documents

Former US president Donald Trump wrote on social media on Thursday that he has been indicted by the US Department of Justice, apparently for mishandling sensitive government documents.

"The corrupt Biden administration has informed my attorneys that I have been indicted, seemingly over the boxes hoax," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Several media outlets said Trump has been indicted on seven counts related to his handling of classified documents and obstruction of justice.

Trump wrote that he had been summoned to appear at the federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday.

Trump's attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for special counsel Jack Smith, who is handling the investigation, declined to comment.

Reuters could not immediately learn what charges Trump is facing. In a sworn statement to a federal court last year, an FBI agent said there was probable cause to believe several crimes were committed, including obstruction and the illegal retention of sensitive defence records.

The US Justice Department has been investigating whether Trump mishandled classified documents he retained after leaving the White House in 2021.

Investigators seized roughly 13,000 documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, nearly a year ago. One hundred were marked as classified, even though one of Trump's lawyers had previously said all records with classified markings had been returned to the government.

Trump has previously defended his retention of documents, suggesting he declassified them while president. However, Trump has not provided evidence of this and his attorneys have declined to make that argument in court filings.