More charges for Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago documents inquiry.

In a fresh set of criminal charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified files, Donald Trump is accused of pressuring an employee to erase security footage at his Florida residence. The new indictment includes one count of wilful retention of defense information and two counts of obstruction, bringing the total number of charges in this case to 40.

Donald Trump denies any wrongdoing and has labeled the prosecutor as "deranged." As he pursues his candidacy for president again, he faces multiple legal battles.

Additionally, Carlos de Oliveira, a staff member at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, has also been indicted.

The recent allegations against Donald Trump involve him reportedly inquiring about deleting security footage, which prosecutors believe contains illegally held files being moved. Both Mr. Trump and his close aide, Walt Nauta, have pleaded not guilty, but Nauta faces two additional charges of obstruction. The revised indictment outlines supposed efforts between Nauta and Mar-a-Lago's property manager, Mr. de Oliveira, to obstruct the justice department's investigation.

According to the newly revealed court documents, Nauta and de Oliveira are accused of conspiring to delete footage from security cameras after the Department of Justice issued a subpoena requesting surveillance footage of the basement, where confidential documents were allegedly stored. De Oliveira is claimed to have texted another employee, the director of information technology, indicating that "the boss" wanted the server deleted.

The documents assert that de Oliveira later met with the IT employee in a secluded IT room, emphasizing the confidentiality of their conversation, and pressured the employee into complying with the request, despite the employee lacking the authority to do so.

The indictment describes a scene where de Oliveira reportedly traversed bushes and foliage at the edge of Mar-a-Lago to reach the IT room and meet Nauta.

"What are we going to do," Mr de Oliveira allegedly asked his co-worker. A lawyer for Mr de Oliveira has declined to comment.

The updated indictment alleges that Mr Trump knowingly discussed a top-secret document with biographers visiting Mar-a-Lago to interview him.

The indictment says the document Mr Trump revealed to the biographers contained possible plans to attack "Country A", which CNN and other outlets identified as Iran.

"Look what I found... Isn't it amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look," Mr Trump allegedly said to one of his guests.

The documents case is led by special prosecutor Jack Smith, who earlier in the day met with Mr Trump's lawyers over a separate investigation into alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

According to US media reports, Mr. Trump's attorneys, John Lauro and Todd Blanche, met officials at Mr. Smith's office in Washington DC. Earlier this month, the former president stated that he anticipated being indicted in the case but mentioned on Thursday that his lawyers did not receive any indication regarding the timing.

In response to the fresh charges in the documents case, Mr. Trump's 2024 presidential campaign issued an emailed statement dismissing the charges. He referred to the prosecutor, Jack Smith, as "deranged" and claimed that the legal actions were an attempt to salvage an alleged illegal witch hunt.

These latest charges contribute to a growing list of legal troubles for the real estate and reality TV mogul. Mr. Trump currently awaits trial on 34 felony counts in a hush-money case, faces civil charges in a defamation case brought by author E Jean Carroll, and Georgia prosecutors are still considering whether to press charges related to an alleged effort to overturn the election results in that state.

Former Trump aide, Stephen Moore, suggested that these charges are viewed by Republicans as "attacks" and are potentially bolstering his popularity in the Republican presidential primaries. He claimed that the more indictments he faces, the more support he garners from the Republican base.