Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday night condemned the indictment against him as “political persecution” and a day that will “go down in infamy.”
Speaking to supporters and donors at his Bedminster, N.J., summer home and quoted by Newsmax, Trump blamed President Joe Biden for the indictment.
“Today we witnessed the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country – very sad thing to watch,” Trump said.
“This corrupt sitting president had his top political opponent arrested on fake and fabricated charges – of which he and numerous other presidents would be guilty – right in the middle of a presidential election in which he is losing very badly. This is called election interference and yet another attempt to rig and steal a presidential election,” he charged.
“More importantly, it’s a political persecution, like something straight out of a fascist or communist nation,” continued the former President.
“This day will go down and infamy and Joe Biden will forever be remembered as not only the most corrupt president of the history of our country, but perhaps even more importantly, the president who – together with the band of his closest thugs, misfits and Marxists – tried to destroy American democracy. But they will fail and we will win bigger and better than ever before.”
Trump argued that he had every right to possess the classified documents in question.
“Under the Presidential Records Act, which is civil, not criminal, I had every right to have these documents,” he stated. “The crucial legal precedent is laid out in the most important case ever on this subject, known as the Clinton socks case.”
The public appearance came hours after Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 charges related to alleged mishandling of classified documents in an arraignment at a federal courthouse in Miami.
According to the indictment, which was unsealed on Friday, Trump faces 37 felony counts, alleging he illegally retained national defense information and that he concealed documents in violation of witness-tampering laws in the Justice Department”s probe into the materials.
