Outside of Miami court where Trump will appear, media so far outnumber protesters

Most people facing an arraignment in a federal court probably wouldn’t be thinking much about golf, but here we are…

Former president Trump posted on Truth Social:

I wonder if the PGA players who didn’t heed my advice and take the massive amounts of money that was offered to them by LIV Golf, feel somewhat “stupid” right now. I predicted a MERGER, and that is exactly what happened, but whether LIV succeeded or failed, what the hell did they have to lose (except for some bull…. fed to them by highly paid PGA executives!). Plenty, in fact, more money than they will ever be able to make again. Anyway, enjoy the game!

Former president Donald Trump posted on Truth Social at midday:

Will Deranged Jack Smith be looking at the thousands of pages of documents that Biden had in Chinatown then, when caught, quickly sent up to Boston? What about the 1,850 Boxes that Biden is fighting to keep secret. How about Hillary’s 33,000 emails that she deleted and acid washed? Will he be looking at the $5,000,000 bribe that was paid to Biden but that the Justice Department is trying to hide? Much more coming on that! We are living in a Third World Country. No Borders, Rigged Elections!

Alex Woodward explains why the case against Mr Trump is different.

The Independent’s Eric Garcia is on Capitol Hill and spoke with Senator Elizabeth Warren.

The Massachusetts Democrat senator criticised former president Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of documents as detailed in the indictment against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office.

Ms Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, spoke with The Independent on Tuesday ahead of Mr Trump’s arraignment in Miami.

“I am deeply concerned about his efforts to hold on to documents even after he knew the risks they posed and the laws that he was violating,” she said. “This indictment is not about some accidental retention of documents.”

Ms Warren said she had read the indictment and noted that for the nearly 200 documents that Mr Trump returned, the special counsel issued no indictment.

“In fact, the prosecutor said, if you just send the stuff back, we’ll treat it as a mistake and we’re done. But he held on to documents and continued to try to hide them from our federal government,” she said.

A former professor at Harvard Law School, Ms Warren defended the integrity of Mr Smith.

“This indictment is a straight-up application of the law as written,” she said. “It follows the basic premise that no one is above the law. Everyone gets the same treatment and anyone who willfully and deliberately withholds stuff, documents that put our national security at risk will be prosecuted. That’s as it should be.”

The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg reports from Miami that there will be no new mugshot of former president Donald Trump when he is processed today at this arraignment. A pre-existing photo will be used, according to a source familiar with the details.

There will also be no handcuffs.

Donald Trump faces 37 counts in a federal indictment stemming from the US Department of Justice investigation into his possession of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property.

Federal prosecutors will charge the former president with willful retention of national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing documents, concealing documents in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements.

Thirty-one counts relate to each document alleged in his possession, five counts relate to Mr Trump concealing them, and two counts relate to false statements.

VOICES “Soon Donald Trump will visit a court in Miami, and become the first president or former president to be arraigned on federal criminal charges. A historic moment, obviously, and not in a good way.

Though proud Americans rightly resent foreigners sneering at their nation, they should understand, respectfully, that the rest of the world frets at what happens in the US precisely because it has done so much for humanity and remains the last great hope for freedom and democracy. Just ask the Ukrainians. It’s not great to see a former president being accused of being careless with security secrets. But we are where we are, as they say.”

Sean O’Grady writes for Independent Premium

Donald Trump has extended his commanding lead over Florida governor Ron DeSantis in the latest Republican presidential primary poll.

The YouGov-CBS News poll showed the former president leading Mr DeSantis by 61 per cent to 23 per cent among likely GOP voters, with Tim Scott, Mike Pence and Nikki Haley all polling in low single digits.

The survey, conducted between 7 and 10 June, found no evidence that the former president’s indictment by a Florida grand jury on 37 federal charges of mishandling classified information had harmed his prospects among Republicans.

In fact, 14 per cent of respondents said that the criminal indictment had changed their view of Mr Trump for the better, and 61 per cent said it hadn’t changed their opinion. Seven per cent said they were less likely to vote for Mr Trump, and nearly one in five said it would depend on further developments.