On Saturday (June 10), former President Donald Trump tackled the federal indictment accusing him of mishandling classified documents, suggesting it is a “political hit job” orchestrated by Democrats against him, emphasizing the double standards in the administration of justice.
At the Georgia Republican state convention, Trump told attendees, “They took one charge, and they made it 36 different times,” adding there was a “thug” in charge of the probe, likening the indictment to a “political hit job.”
Trump pointed to how “Republicans are treated far differently [than Democrats] at the Justice Department.”
The 2024 GOP front-runner was indicted on Friday (June 9) on 37 federal charges, including knowingly withholding national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and perjury.
Saturday’s remarks were Trump’s first public statements since the indictment.
The indictment accuses Trump of failing to comply with demands to return classified documents he held at Mar-a-Lago, including plans about a U.S. retaliation attack on a foreign power.
Other documents cover U.S. defense and weapons capabilities and details of the U.S. nuclear program.
The indictment details how “The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents” could threaten the U.S.’s national security, military safety, and human sources in addition to foreign relations and the “viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods.”
The former President is also accused of keeping the documents in the bathroom and other places of the residence and even flaunting and showing the documents to visitors.
In one instance, he reportedly told individuals about a document that “as President, I could have declassified,” acknowledging that now he couldn’t and that the document “is still a secret.”
Trump also allegedly ordered an aide to move boxes of documents requested by the grand jury subpoena while he claimed he was fully cooperating.
The FBI opened a criminal investigation into the matter in March 2022.
Trump, his allies, and even other 2024 GOP presidential candidates have said the charges are politically motivated and are in contrast to the leniency offered to Democrats over more serious crimes.
