interference. they re trying to destroy a reputationsy they can win an election. i did nothing wrong and will fight this out just like we ve been fighting for seven years. i m innocent, and we ll prove that very, very soundly. fact check. when the former president is saying the word they he is referring to democrats. democrats did not indict the president. president joe biden did not indict donald trump. it was a grand jury based in florida. that is it. we should also note trump has already pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records here in new york. we ve got a lot to cover so let s start off with our panel this evening. peter baker, katie bennett, former u.s. attorney joyce vance who spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor, charles coleman, former new york prosecutor and civil rights attorney, anthony former justice spokesperson under attorney merrick garland, and frank figliuzzi, former fbi director for counter intelligence. as i look at you all, h
i m stephanie ruhle. we continue our breaking news coverage on this historic night. nbc news has confirmed, donald trump, the nation s 45th president, has been indicted on seven charges in connection with his mishandling of classified documents. let that sink in for a moment. we ve been talking about it for months but here it is. for the first time in u.s. history,, a former president federal charges trump has received a summons to appear in u.s. district court on june 13th. that is this coming tuesday. the indictment remains under seal. sources tell nbc news. the charges include conspiracy to obstruct. and the new york times reports, the charges also include, quote, willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the espionage act. according to people familiar with the matter. the charges, of course, come after a lengthy investigation, led by justice department special counsel, jack smith. tonight, donald trump responded on his social media platform. watch this.
indictment. just a little bit of color, there is a big training that happened in the press room on the seventh floor of the justice department. it s been going on for days. and yesterday all the prosecutors were told they might have to vacate because he might or might not need that room. and people are saying what else would need the garland would need this room, for that we would have to leave on a moments notice? clearly the anticipation was that greg jack smith was going to, or one of his prosecutors would appear before the grand jury, present the indictment, and get their vote. it s a really straightforward process. they have heard the evidence. the prosecutor gives the document to the jury, and they can ask any questions. now in this case, what was anticipated, again, inside the building, we don t know, him only the people i ve spoken with do not know, what is anticipated and expected is that we will see when we will finally see the indictment, is a speaking indictment, basically
justice department official acting special counsel has now led a team that compiled evidence sufficient to convince a grand jury today the former president. that s a process that is not grounded in politics, no matter what donald trump tries to convince people of. this is a purely professional process, grounded in the rule of law. that s something i think we can all take heart from. we have been through a tough few years. the rule of law still works in this country. charles, we have been speaking about this for months someone. we have not heard from in all this time including tonight s jack smith. he has worked quietly, meticulously, and here we are. anyone who says we know it s in there, we don t. the whole world is listening to jack smith and he hasn t said anything. right. absolutely. and i m so glad you brought that up. because of his any take away, and joyce started to hit on, this is the american public began to understand what
not seen the indictment. they have not seen the evidence. mark mckinnon s, and basil smikle still with us. the speaker, kevin mccarthy, reacted on twitter. falsely implying that joe biden was behind the indictment. and i have said again and again, presidents don t indict, jurors do. how harmful is this information? how can you say that this is an injustice? he can say it because here to four, that has worked for the republican base. blame democrats for weaponizing the justice department. weaponizing the congressional hearing process. thus the impeachment, for a period of time it seem to be working. i don t know that we are in a period where that is going to work any longer. even if you think of joe biden as a managerial president. someone who doesn t excite you, but he is getting the job done. what happens that, in 2022,