I want to welcome you to the beat. We continue the breaking coverage of the first ever federal indictment of a former president.

Today the Justice Department unsealed an indictment of defendant Donald Trump for 37 counts.

We are covering this historic and unprecedented development with our legal experts who have been pouring over this 44 page indictment since it was first unsealed this afternoon.

A nation heard from special counsel Jack Smith for actually the first time ever today.

A prosecutor known for his work and today his actions in writing the former president after about seven months on the job and he spoke clearly and concisely about this indictment and national security crimes.

Today an indictment was unsealed.

Charging Donald J. Trump with felony violations of our national security laws conspiracy to obstruct justice to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged are laws that protect national defense information are critical and they must be enforced.

Violations of those laws put our country at risk adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle nothing more and nothing less.

My office will seek a speedy trial that the defendants in this case must be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

I would like to thank the dedicated public servants of the federal Bureau of investigation.

We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone.

And there you have it.

The special counsel acknowledging the FBI which defendant Trump has attacked and now the new indictment alleges criminally lied to.

And Jackson met emphasized one set of laws applies to all.

He urged people to read the actual charges and I could tell you they dropped today as the ultimate bombshell in this maga era.

You could see journalists you're not hallucinating moments ago on your screen along with lawyers and news junkies and politico scouring this detail and damning narrative that has been unfurled today.

And we could tell although this is a breaking and unfolding story this is a moment for us for people in America and probably around the world watching.

But we can tell already that this has been happening from newsrooms to living room.

So it's a faster process than most cases because Trump's rush to leak his own indictment and his planned arrangements shifted the timeline the DOJ move to officially unseal the charges that will formally be filed in court next week.

And now we have it.

We can see more than just the number of counts the 37 being higher than the initial estimates that we're leaking out last night.

We can see the DOJ's view and evidence for what they call the purpose and methods of Trump's criminal conspiracy, the lying, the hiding, the demands to destroy evidence, the pressure on lawyers to join his crimes and the pressure on the lawyers who refused.

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