informed he s a target of the special counsel s january 6th criminal investigation. we re breaking down the gravity and the timing of the potential criminal charges. and i ll talk to a key grand jury witness, the former chief of staff to vice president mike pence mark short. this hour, there s also breaking news in the trump classified documents case. the judge signaling the trial is likely to be pushed back from the december date proposed by the prosecution. also breaking, new criminal charges in michigan against 16 participants in an alleged fake electoral scheme falsely claiming trump won the state in the 2021 election. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. right now we re following some major fast-moving developments in the criminal investigation of donald trump and january 6th and the criminal prosecution of the former president in the classified documents case. cnn s paula reid is standing o
been talking to the special counsel, and jack smith responds to trump team s efforts to delay the documents trial. also tonight, how conservative republicans managed to attach restrictions on abortion access to a key defense bill, and what that could do to the chances of getting it through congress. later, without being able the say who left a pact of cocaine in the west wing, the secret service still says case closed. why? good evening. jack smith decides to charge the former president for his role in trying to overturn the election, being able to show his intent will be critical. and showing a ten could hinge on whether or not he believed he had won. tonight there is new evidence that smith is thinking along those lines, and is looking for evidence for people who know or heard him indicate he d lost. jared kushner and hope hicks have both gone before the grand jury, and some of the questions asked was whether the former president was told he lost the election. other mem
just about at the top of the hour, the end of another historic day and another historic first for donald trump. mere weeks after becoming the first former president charged on state felony offenses, he s now also the first to be charged with the federal kind, specifically 37 counts connected to retaining, mishandling, moving, concealing government documents, some of them highly classified. the indictment also details allegations of two occasions he shared highly sensitive material with people not cleared to see it. he s also accused of hiding documents from his own attorneys and conspiring to obstruct government efforts to get them back. just a short time ago we got our first read on how long the government expects it will take to make its case in court against donald trump according to a court document filed along with the document, the estimate that jack smith, the special counsel s team is making, is 21 business days. that s about a month. that does not include how long
charging trump with 37 counts, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information. the 49-page indictment includes new details about how trump allegedly took classified documents to mar-a-lago after leaving office in 2021. then, resisted the government s attempts to retrieve those materials. special counsel jack smith also releasing new photos showing the scope of the investigation, and evidence, including photos of boxes containing classified markings, at locations around trump s mar-a-lago resort. trump is expected to speak at gop conventions in both georgia and north carolina today. cnn s zach cohen, and randi kaye are following all the details for us today, zach, let s go to you first, trump is now the first former president ever charged with crimes in federal court. so, how potentially damning is the evidence against him? reporter: fredricka, those photos you were just showing speak to the level of detail in this indictment where prosecutors are a
welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer in washington with erin burnett in new york. breaking now, 37 criminal charges against donald trump revealed in a detailed federal indictment that s now public. the former president of the united states accused of storing and hiding very sensitive, highly classified documents as mar-a-lago allegedly conspireing with an aide to defy a subpoena for the material. wolf, prosecutors say trump kept secret information in a ballroom, up on a stage, in a bedroom and in a bathroom and even in a shower. the former commander in chief showed off documents including a document trump is said to have described as a, quote, plan of attack. tonight, erin, special counsel jack smith is vowing a very speedy trial arguing laws must be enforced as the indictment warrants trump risked exposing military and nuclear secrets of the united states and its allies. this is a special edition of the situation room. the