Here Are Some of the Charges Trump Faces in Classified Documents Case

A grand jury has charged former President Donald J. Trump with a total of seven counts, according to two people familiar with the indictment.

While the precise details of all the charges are not yet clear, the people familiar with the matter said the charges include willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and making false statements.

Here is a closer look.

Unauthorized retention of national security documents

It is a crime to retain national security documents without authorization and to fail to deliver them to a government official entitled to take custody of them.

To win a conviction, prosecutors would have to show that Mr. Trump knew he was still in possession of the documents after leaving the White House and failed to comply when the government asked him to return them and then subpoenaed him.

Each such charged document would be a separate offense, so it is possible that prosecutors have brought as many as five counts of this offense by citing five different records. A conviction would be theoretically subject to 10 years in prison for each count, although defendants in other Espionage Act cases have received significantly less than the maximum.