Trump's indictment unsealed, CNN CEO Christ Licht out, Robert De Niro reacts to Al Pacino becoming a father, and more top news

MIAMI — Donald Trump improperly stored in his Florida estate sensitive documents on nuclear capabilities, repeatedly enlisted aides and lawyers to help him hide records demanded by investigators and cavalierly showed off a Pentagon “plan of attack” and classified map, according to a sweeping felony indictment that paints a damning portrait of the former president’s treatment of national security information.

The conduct alleged in the historic indictment — the first federal case against a former president — cuts to the heart of any president’s responsibility to safeguard the government’s most valuable secrets. Prosecutors say the documents he stowed, refused to return and in some cases showed to visitors risked jeopardizing not only relations with foreign nations but also the safety of troops and confidential sources.

“Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced,” Jack Smith, the Justice Department special counsel who filed the case, said in his first public statements. “Violations of those laws put our country at risk.”

Trump, who is currently the leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is due to make his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon in Miami. In a rare bit of good news for Trump, the judge initially assigned to the case is someone he appointed and who drew criticism for rulings in his favor during a dispute last year over a special master assigned to review the seized classified documents. Meanwhile, two lawyers who worked the case for months announced Friday that they had resigned from the legal team.

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All told, Trump faces 37 felony counts — 31 pertaining to the willful retention of national defense information, the balance relating to alleged conspiracy, obstruction and false statements — that could result in a substantial prison sentence in the event of a conviction. A Trump aide who prosecutors said moved dozens of boxes at his Florida estate at his direction, and then lied to investigators about it, was charged in the same indictment with conspiracy and other crimes.

Trump responded to the indictment Friday by falsely conflating his case with a separate classified documents investigation concerning President Joe Biden. Though classified records were found in a Biden home and office, there has been no indication that the president, unlike Trump, sought to conceal them or knew they were there.

“Nobody said I wasn’t allowed to look at the personal records that I brought with me from the White House. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

The case adds to deepening legal jeopardy for Trump, who has already been indicted in New York and faces additional investigations in Washington and Atlanta that also could lead to criminal charges. But among the various investigations he has faced, legal experts — as well as Trump’s own aides — had long seen the Mar-a-Lago probe as the most perilous threat and the one most ripe for prosecution. Campaign aides had been bracing for the fallout since Trump’s attorneys were notified that he was the target of the investigation, assuming it was not a matter of if charges would be brought, but when.

The indictment arrives at a time when Trump is continuing to dominate the Republican presidential primary. He’s expected to make his first public appearance since the charges were made public on Saturday when he attends state GOP conventions in Georgia and North Carolina.

But the document’s startling scope and breadth of allegations will almost certainly make it harder for Republicans to rail against than an earlier New York criminal case that many legal analysts had derided as weak.

The 49-page indictment centers on hundreds of classified documents that Trump took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago upon leaving office in January 2021. Even as “tens of thousands of members and guests” visited Mar-a-Lago between the end of Trump’s presidency and August 2022, when the FBI obtained a search warrant, documents were recklessly stored in spaces including a “ballroom, a bathroom and shower, and office space, his bedroom, and a storage room.” A photograph included in the indictment shows several dozen file boxes stacked in a storage area.

The case is a milestone for a Justice Department that had investigated Trump for years — as president and private citizen — but had never before charged him with a crime. The most notable investigation was an earlier special counsel probe into ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia, but prosecutors in that probe cited Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president. Once he left office, though, he lost that protection.

The inquiry took a major step forward last November when Attorney General Merrick Garland, a soft-spoken former federal judge who has long stated that no person should be regarded as above the law, appointed Smith, a war crimes prosecutor with an aggressive, hard-charging reputation, to lead both the documents probe as well as a separate investigation into efforts to subvert the 2020 election.

The indictment alleges that Trump, who claimed without evidence that he had declassified all the documents before leaving office, understood his duty to care for classified information but shirked it anyway. It details a July 2021 meeting in Bedminster in which he boasted about having held onto a classified document prepared by the military about a potential attack on another country.

“Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” the indictment quotes him as saying, citing an audio recording. He also said he could have declassified the document but “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret,” according to the indictment.

Using Trump’s own words and actions, as recounted to prosecutors by lawyers, aides and other witnesses, the indictment alleges both a refusal to return the documents despite more than a year’s worth of government demands but also steps that he encouraged others around him to take to conceal the records.

For instance, prosecutors say, after the Justice Department issued a subpoena for the records in May 2022, Trump asked his own lawyers if he could defy the request and said words to the effect of, “I don’t want anybody looking through my boxes.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” one of his lawyers described him as saying.

But before his own lawyer searched the property for classified records, the indictment says, Trump directed aides to remove from the Mar-a-Lago storage room boxes of documents so that they would not be found during the search and therefore handed over to the government.

Weeks later, when Justice Department officials arrived at Mar-a-Lago to collect the records, they were handed a folder with only 38 documents and an untrue letter attesting that all documents responsive to the subpoena had been turned over.

But suspecting that many more remained inside, the FBI obtained a search warrant and returned in August to recover more than 100 additional documents. The Justice Department says Trump held onto more than 300 classified documents, including some at the top secret level.

Walt Nauta, one of the aides alleged to have transported the boxes around the boxes, lied to the FBI about the movement of the boxes and faces charges that he conspired to hide them. His lawyer declined to comment.

Photos: Donald Trump through the years

Talking politics

With Melania

'How to Get Rich'

On the course

At Doral

Sarazen Cup

With Serena

USS Iowa

Debating Jeb Bush

In Biloxi

Campaign rally

Winning South Carolina

She's with him

Signing autographs

Another debate

Waving to supporters

In Arizona

The Trump family

At the convention

The nominee

The ticket

Showing her support

In Mexico

Debating Clinton

Casting his vote

Election Night

In the Oval Office

Mitt Romney

The inauguration

Thumbs up

Taking the oath

Waving goodbye

Armed Forces Ball

James Comey

Trump to lay out his agenda to Congress

Thanking school children

Medal of Honor recipients

Justice Anthony Kennedy swears in Neil Gorsuch

Easter Egg Roll

Super Bowl champs

Little Sisters of the Poor

Russian foreign minister, ambassador

At the Western Wall

Meeting the pope

Wreath-laying ceremony in Arlington

National champs

Congressional shooting

At the White House

Congressional Picnic

Go, Cubs, go

Departing the White House

USS Gerald R. Ford joins the Navy

The eclipse

9/11 anniversary

Trump addresses world leaders at U.N. General Assembly

Las Vegas shooting

Trump visits Puerto Rico

Trump meets Kissinger

With Trudeau

Medal of Honor

Happy Halloween

National Christmas Tree Lighting

Celebrating GOP tax plan

March for Life

State of the Union

School shootings

State dinner

With Olympians

Greeting a guest

Freed Americans

Historic summit

With Kim Kardashian West

In Washington

Trump North Carolina

Debating Joe Biden

Election Night 2020

Jan. 6

Leaving the White House

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NEW YORK — Just as a trial was to begin, it was revealed Tuesday that Cuba Gooding Jr. has settled accusations that he raped a woman in a New York City hotel a decade ago, according to court records. The actor had insisted through lawyers that his encounter with the woman was consensual after the two met at a nearby restaurant.

The trial was to start with jury selection in New York federal court as the Oscar-winning "Jerry Maguire" star faced allegations that he met the woman in Manhattan, persuaded her to join him at a hotel, and convinced her to stop at his room so he could change clothing.

Minutes after jurors were to begin assembling in a courtroom, a calendar entry in the official court record said: "TRIAL OFF." It added: "Reason for cancellation (on consent): the parties have resolved the matter."

The woman had proceeded anonymously until last week, when Judge Paul A. Crotty ruled that she would have to reveal her name at trial. She said in her lawsuit that Gooding raped her in his room. His lawyers, though, insisted that it was consensual sex and that she bragged afterward to others that she had sex with a celebrity.

The lawsuit sought $6 million in damages. Attorney Gloria Allred, one of several representing the woman, declined comment. Other lawyers, including those representing Gooding, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit was filed against a man who authorities say has been accused of committing sexual misconduct against more than 30 other women, including groping, unwanted kissing and other inappropriate behavior.

Late last week, the judge seemed to strengthen the woman's hand at trial and in settlement negotiations by ruling that he would let three women testify that they also were subjected to sudden sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults after meeting Gooding in social settings such as festivals, bars, nightclubs and restaurants.

One of the women who had planned to testify at the trial was Kelsey Harbert, who told police Gooding fondled her without her consent at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge near Times Square in 2019.

Harbert said last year after Gooding pleaded guilty in New York state court to a charge that spared him from jail or a criminal history that never getting her day in court was "more disappointing than words can say."

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they grant permission, as Harbert has done.

Gooding, a star in films including "Boyz n the Hood" and "Radio," was permitted to plead guilty in April 2022 to a misdemeanor, admitting that he forcibly kissed a worker at a New York nightclub in 2018.

By staying out of trouble and completing six months of alcohol and behavioral counseling, Gooding was permitted to withdraw his guilty plea and plead guilty to a non-criminal harassment violation, eliminating his criminal record and preventing further penalties.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The pilot of a business jet that flew over Washington and crashed into a remote part of Virginia on Sunday appeared to be slumped over and unresponsive, fighter jet pilots reported, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the matter.

Federal investigators trudged through rugged terrain Monday in search of wreckage from a business jet to solve the mystery of why the plane veered off course and slammed into a mountain, killing four people.

A day after the plane flew over the nation's capital, prompting the military to scramble fighter jets, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a brief update that the pilot and three passengers were killed and that the plane was “destroyed” in the crash. Their identities weren't immediately released.

The pilot of the business jet that flew over Washington and crashed in Virginia appeared to be slumped over and unresponsive before the crash, the fighter jet pilots reported, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the matter. The officials were not authorized to discuss details of the military operation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

NTSB investigator Adam Gerhardt told reporters it will take investigators a while to reach the remote crash scene about two to three miles north of Montebello. They expect to be on the scene for at least three to four days. Investigators had to hike to the site on foot because of the mountainous terrain.

Attention on the crash and its cause was heightened by its unusual flight path over Washington, D.C. and a sonic boom caused by military aircraft heard across the capital, and parts of Maryland and Virginia. The North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement that military aircraft was authorized to travel at supersonic speeds, which caused the sonic boom. The aircraft also used flares to try to get the pilot’s attention.

Air Traffic Control audio from the half-hour before the plane crashed captures voices identifying themselves as military pilots trying to communicate with the pilot of the plane, according to recordings on LiveATC.net.

“If you hear this transmission, contact us,” said one pilot who identifies as being with the Air National Guard.

Several minutes later, a military pilot says: “You have been intercepted. Contact me.”

Speaking at a briefing Monday morning, Gerhardt said the wreckage is “highly fragmented” and investigators will examine the most delicate evidence on the scene, after which the wreckage will be moved, perhaps by helicopter, to Delaware, where it can be further examined, he said. The plane is not required to have a flight recorder but it is possible that there are other avionics equipment that will have data that they can examine, Gerhardt said.

Virginia State Police said the crash site is more than a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Blue Ridge Parkway in Augusta County, near the Nelson County line. Along with NTSB, they are beginning evidence collection and body recovery efforts. Remains collected at the scene will be transported to the medical examiner's office in Virginia for autopsy and positive identification.

Investigators will look at when the pilot became unresponsive and why aircraft flew the path that it did, he said. They will consider several factors that are routinely examined in such probes including the plane, its engines, weather conditions, pilot qualifications and maintenance records, he said.

“Everything is on the table until we slowly and methodically remove different components and elements that will be relevant for this safety investigation,” Gerhardt said.

A preliminary report will be released in 10 days and a final report will be released in one to two years, he said.

Meanwhile, the White House expressed its “deepest condolences” on Monday to the family of those on board the plane.

“We need to keep them front and center,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.

Kirby deferred questions about a follow-up report on the security response over Washington airspace to the Pentagon and U.S. Secret Service. But he said, “What I saw was just a classic, textbook response.”

The White House was continuously informed as Air Force jets tried to contact the pilot of the civilian plane and monitored the small aircraft's path from Washington airspace to rural Virginia, Kirby said.

Police said Sunday night that rescuers had reached the crash site in a rural part of the Shenandoah Valley and that no survivors were found. Virginia State Police said officers were notified of the potential crash shortly before 4 p.m. and rescuers reached the crash site by foot around four hours later.

The FAA said the Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethton, Tennessee, on Sunday and was headed for Long Island’s MacArthur Airport. Inexplicably, the plane turned around over New York’s Long Island and flew a straight path down over D.C. before it crashed around 3:30 p.m.

The plane flew directly over the nation's capital, though it was technically flying above one of the most heavily restricted airspaces in the nation.

According to the Pentagon, six F-16 fighter jets were immediately deployed to intercept the plane. Two aircraft from the 113th Fighter Wing, out of Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, were the first to reach the Cessna to begin attempts to contact the pilot. Two F-16 aircraft out of New Jersey and two from South Carolina also responded.

Flight tracking sites showed the plane suffered a rapid spiraling descent, dropping at one point at a rate of more than 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) per minute before crashing in the St. Mary’s Wilderness.

In Fairfax, Virginia, Travis Thornton was settled on a couch next to his wife, Hannah, and had just begun recording himself playing guitar and harmonica when they were startled by a loud rumble and rattling that can be heard on the video. The couple jumped up to investigate. Thornton tweeted that they checked in with their kids upstairs and then he went outside to check the house and talk to neighbors.

The plane that crashed was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc, which is based in Florida. John Rumpel, a pilot who runs the company, told The New York Times that his daughter, 2-year-old granddaughter, her nanny and the pilot were aboard the plane. They were returning to their home in East Hampton, on Long Island, after visiting his house in North Carolina, he said.

Rumpel told the newspaper he didn't have much information from authorities but suggested the plane could have lost pressurization.

“It descended at 20,000 feet a minute, and nobody could survive a crash from that speed,” Rumpel told the newspaper.

The episode brought back memories of the 1999 crash of a Learjet that lost cabin pressure and flew aimlessly across the country with professional golfer Payne Stewart aboard. The jet crashed in a South Dakota pasture and six people died.

___

Associated Press White House Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed to this report. Brumfield reported from Silver Spring, Maryland.

Photos: Small plane crashes into power lines in Maryland