Federal Protective Service Police cars line the sidewalk outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse, Monday in Miami. Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press
Former president Donald Trump is expected to make his first appearance in a Miami federal courthouse Tuesday, after being charged with willfully retaining documents containing some of the country’s most closely guarded secrets – and lying and obstructing when federal officials tried to retrieve them.
The historic appearance marks the first time a former president has been indicted on federal charges. It is the second time Trump, who is again running for president, has been criminally charged since March, when he was indicted in state court in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments from 2016. Trump has denied wrongdoing in both cases.
Here’s everything you need to know about what to expect at Trump’s court appearance.
Why was Trump indicted?
Trump is alleged to have taken highly sensitive government documents from the White House after leaving office and then improperly stored them at Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Palm Beach, Fla. He is accused of intentionally keeping them in his possession – even after federal investigators issued a subpoena demanding them back.
In all, Trump was indicted on 37 counts, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information, a crime that carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. Each count represents a different highly sensitive document that Trump allegedly kept at Mar-a-Lago. Prosecutors say one of the documents discussed U.S. nuclear secrets; another detailed the nuclear capabilities of a foreign country.
The former president was also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document, concealing a document, concealing a record in a federal investigation, scheming to conceal and making a false statement or representation.
Is this an arraignment?
Technically, court records state that Trump’s hearing will be an “initial court appearance.” While we cannot know exactly what will occur until after Trump appears in front of the judge, it is probable that the appearance will also serve as Trump’s arraignment, which is the court proceeding in which he would be asked how he wants to plead, according to Scott Sundby, a University of Miami law professor.
Sundby said defendants who appear in court after being arrested, before they can hire a lawyer or understand the charges against them, are not arraigned during their initial court appearance. Instead, they often enter their pleas at an arraignment on a later date, once they are represented by counsel.
But in Trump’s case, he is coming to court days after receiving a summons. He has already seen the indictment, knows the charges that he faces and has discussed them with his oft-changing legal team. He is expected to plead “not guilty.”
“An initial appearance is meant to introduce the defendant to the fact that they have just been charged and inform them that they’ll need an attorney,” Sundby said. “In a case like this, where an indictment has already been handed down, defendants have already taken care of what is often taken care of at the initial court hearings.”
What else will Trump do in the courthouse? Will there be a mug shot?
Trump is expected to be processed by the U.S. Marshals Service on Tuesday. Standard procedure calls for him to be fingerprinted and have his photo taken. Such photos are not released to the public, per federal court rules.
As part of the process, Marshals also will ask Trump to list his addresses, close relatives, phone numbers and occupation, according to a law enforcement official.
What is expected outside the Miami courthouse?
Federal and local authorities have ramped up security preparations ahead of Trump’s federal court appearance and are expecting pro-Trump rallies outside the courthouse. At least one of the rallies is purportedly organized by a local chapter of the Proud Boys, a far-right group with a history of violence, some leaders of which were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Will Trump have to make bail?
The judge is expected to set the conditions under which Trump should be released until the trial. Legal experts say it is highly unlikely that the judge would require Trump to pay bail or give up his passport to be released. He is expected to be released on his own recognizance, meaning that he will probably not have any restrictions on him while the criminal proceedings unfold.
Will this be televised?
No, federal criminal court proceedings are not televised. But members of the public – including journalists – are allowed to attend and report after the fact what happened inside the courtroom.
Who is the judge overseeing the court proceedings?
The case was assigned to Judge Aileen M. Cannon, a federal judge in Florida appointed by Trump in 2020, the final year of his term. She will set the pace and rules for how a potential trial would unfold. But Cannon is not expected to oversee the initial court appearance. Instead, that will probably fall to a magistrate judge.
“Our local rules means the magistrate does the initial appearance and the arraignment,” said Joseph A. DeMaria, a former federal prosecutor in Miami who now works as a private attorney.
Will Walt Nauta appear too?
Yes. Waltine “Walt” Nauta, Trump’s longtime valet, was listed as co-defendant in the indictment and is expected to appear in court Tuesday alongside his boss. Nauta faces six criminal counts. The indictment alleges that he moved boxes containing top-secret government materials for Trump and then helped the former president hide them from federal officials who demanded them back. The indictment also alleges that Nauta lied to officials multiple times when they questioned him during the investigation.
Would Trump’s trial be in Miami?
That will probably be up to Cannon, DeMaria said. There are five divisions within the Southern District of Florida, and judges based in one courthouse can hear cases filed in other courthouses within the district. Federal prosecutors filed the case in West Palm Beach. Cannon is based in the Fort Pierce courthouse.
DeMaria said the initial court appearance is likely to occur in the Miami courthouse for logistical reasons.
Technically, DeMaria said, a trial could take place in any courthouse within the district, but local rules say that a judge should either select the division where the case was filed – or the divisions closest north or south of where it was filed. Based on that, Cannon could decide to hold the trial in West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce – which is the division north of West Palm Beach – or Fort Lauderdale – which is the division south of West Palm Beach.
“If you are alleged to commit a crime in the Southern District of Florida, you can theoretically be tried anywhere between Key West and Fort Pierce without violating the constitution,” DeMaria said.
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