Trump's classified documents case

Jan 20, 2021: Former President Donald Trump departs White House with boxes containing both personal documents and more than 325 classified documents.

Boxes transported to Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida

May: Official at National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) realises several classified documents – including Trump’s correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un – are missing from archive

NARA: Spends most of 2021 trying to compel Trump to return presidential papers. Under Presidential Records Act (PRA), documents are property
of federal government

Dec: Trump advisers and lawyers agree to return boxes of documents to NARA

Jan 17, 2022: 15 boxes returned to NARA.
Archive officials discover 197 individual classified documents

Feb 9: NARA asks Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate whether Trump violated PRA

Mar 30: FBI opens criminal investigation into unlawful retention of classified documents
at Mar-a-Lago Club

Apr: Federal grand jury issues subpoena requiring Trump to turn over all documents with classification markings

Jun: Top DOJ officials visit Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s lawyers Evan Corcoran (above) and Christina Bobb hand over folder containing 38 T op Secret documents and signed letter claiming that folder represents all classified material at Trump’s property

Aug 8: FBI executes court-approved search warrant at Mar-a-Lago.

FBI recovers 102 additional documents with Top Secret classification markings

Nov 18: Attorney General Merrick Garland appoints Jack Smith (above) as special counsel to oversee criminal investigations into Trump

Jun 13, 2023: Trump pleads not guilty to 37 federal crimes, including illegally retaining national security documents and conspiring to obstruct justice.
Experts say it could be a year or more before trial takes place

Sources: Department of Justice, National Archives and Records Administration, New York Times, Reuters
Pictures: Getty Images
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