Trump indictment news: Trump leaves Bedminster ahead of Miami arraignment where he faces 37 federal charges

Former president Donald Trump spent much of the day before his first appearance as a criminal defendant in federal court in search of experienced legal representation, but without much in the way of results.

Mr Trump, who departed on Monday afternoon from the resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he primarily resides during the summer months to travel to Miami aboard his bespoke Boeing 757, has spent much of the last year and a half cycling through a rotating cast of criminal defence attorneys as he has contended with the Department of Justice probe that resulted in his unprecedented indictment under the Espionage Act last week.

Two of the more experienced criminal defence lawyers in his stable, James Trusty and John Rowley, quit the ex-president’s team on Thursday, just hours after a Florida grand jury voted to charge him with 37 separate counts stemming from alleged violations of the Espionage Act and other portions of the US criminal code.

“Over the weekend, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham provided an unusually straightforward demonstration of how right-wing populism justifies itself. As everyone who follows the news is aware, former president Donald Trump was indicted on 37 charges last week, including violations of the Espionage Act, after he allegedly took secret documents from the White House. Graham went on ABC’s This Week to defend Trump.”

Donald Trump has departed from Bedminster, New Jersey to head to Florida ahead of his arraignment.

The former GOP president is set to travel to Miami today, Monday, 12 June, ahead of his arraignment on 37 charges over his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.

He is due to appear in Miami federal court on Tuesday (13 June), following the unsealing of his indictment on Friday.

Prosecutors are expected to charge Mr Trump with willful retention of national defence secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing documents in a federal investigation and making false statements.

On Truth Social, former president Donald Trump said he was getting ready to depart for Miami for his arraignment as part of the federal indictment against him while blaming the left for “destroying our country”.

“Getting ready to head down to Doral in Miami,” Mr Trump wrote.

“We must all be STRONG and DEFEAT the Communists, Marxists, and Radical Left Lunatics that are systematically destroying our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” He added.

Watch live as former Republican president Donald Trump is expected to depart his Bedminster home for Florida.

A Trump administration Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official has given a stunning assessment of the toll that Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents has taken on the safety and security of the American people.

Elizabeth Neumann, who served as the DHS’s assistant secretary for counterterrorism from February 2017 to April 2020 and now works as an ABC News contributor, told ABC’s This Week that lives may have been lost as a result of the former president’s actions.

“This causes people to die,” she said.

“This is a very serious top secret [and] special access program.

“When they fall into the wrong hands, people die and the United States’ security is deeply compromised.”