Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to dozens of criminal charges of negligently handling some of the US government’s most sensitive secrets and plotting to prevent their return, in a historic first court appearance as a federal defendant.
The former president – and the Republicans’ favorite in next year’s election – handed himself over to the US Marshal Service in Miami for a trial that creates the unprecedented scenario of a White House election being litigated in court as well as at the polls.
On the eve of his 77th birthday, Trump appeared before a judge to be officially charged with 37 charges under seven indictments. It was launched by a special counsel investigation that began 10 months ago after an FBI raid on his estate in Florida.
Trump dismissed his impeachment as politically motivated in a speech to supporters in which he described the charge as an attempt to interfere in the 2024 election.
“Today we witnessed the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country. A very sad thing to watch,” Trump said after returning to his summer residence in New Jersey.
The trial – just weeks after Trump pleaded not guilty to state-level financial fraud charges in a separate case in Manhattan – comes as the former reality TV star’s mounting legal troubles jeopardize his bid to return to the Oval Office.
The US government – which has never before prosecuted a former president – accuses Trump of violating the Espionage Act and other laws by removing classified documents when he left office in 2021 and failing to turn them over to the National Archives .
Authorities allege he conspired to thwart investigators and knowingly shared national security secrets with people who lacked the required security clearance.
After the hearing, Trump flew back from Miami to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he blamed President Joe Biden for his impeachment.
“A corrupt sitting president had his top political opponent arrested on false and thumb-sucking charges – of which he and countless other presidents would be guilty – right in the middle of a presidential election that he is losing very badly,” Trump said. said in front of the clubhouse on a podium, with American flags on either side.
He was cheered by several hundred supporters, including 100 members of a conservative organization of Vietnamese Americans who wore matching red dresses and shouted: “We love Trump.”
Trump enjoys strong support from Republican voters, 81 percent of whom believe that the charges against him are politically motivated, according to a new Ipsos poll.
Antonio Rufa, 30, who came to Bedminister to support the tycoon, described Trump’s charge as “scandalous”, while Vincent Larusso, 57, said the impeachment was designed to prevent Trump from being re-elected.
“This is not democracy and you can see it from miles away,” Larusso told AFP.
The government has reportedly recovered more than 300 classified documents from Trump since officials discovered his correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was missing, US media reported.
According to prosecutors, the records were the work of top national security and law enforcement agencies such as the CIA and NSA, and some deal with the military and nuclear capabilities of the United States and other countries, as well as “plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.” .
The 49-page indictment, dismissed as “ridiculous” by Trump, includes photos of boxes of records piled up at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach home, in a ballroom, in a bathroom and a shower.
One photo shows that, by December 2021, some of the boxes moved to a storage unit had fallen, and their contents were scattered across the floor.
According to the indictment, Trump rejected his lawyers’ efforts to comply with a subpoena for the return of the records. He was quoted as asking a lawyer: “What happens if we don’t respond at all or don’t play along?”
Trump is the undisputed frontrunner in the 2024 Republican primary. He leads Ron DeSantis, who is second, by more than 30 points. He has been indicted twice over allegations of misconduct in office and was recently found liable for sexual abuse.
He faces charges or continued investigation in four criminal investigations – in Washington, Florida, Georgia and New York – and could find himself in court in multiple cases during his campaign to return to the White House.
The combative billionaire has repeatedly complained that the investigations against him amount to a baseless “witch hunt” and has promised to take part in the election regardless of the outcome of the documents case.
He said on Monday that upon his return to office he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden, who is not facing any credible accusations of criminal conduct.
Republican leaders in Congress and Trump’s rivals for the party’s presidential nomination have largely ignored the seriousness of the charges against him and instead attacked the Department of Justice.
Less than one percent of federal defendants in US cases appear in court and are acquitted, according to the Pew Research Center. The vast majority – around 90% – plead guilty.
