Trump dismisses charges over mishandling classified documents as abuse of power

Former US President Donald Trump has dismissed the federal charges brought against him regarding his handling of classified documents, just hours after pleading not guilty at an arraignment in Miami, Florida. Trump faces 37 counts of concealing and mishandling classified documents. Addressing a crowd from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, he labelled the case as the “most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country” and called for the charges to be dropped.

Trump, who is the current Republican frontrunner for the 2024 US presidential race, accused President Joe Biden of attempting to sabotage his candidacy through politically motivated persecution. He referred to the Justice Department prosecutors as “thugs” and called the special counsel leading the investigation “deranged.” Despite not denying that he kept classified documents, Trump argued that he was entitled to them under the Presidential Records Act and had declassified them before leaving office, a claim the Justice Department disputes.

The indictment alleges that Trump and his aide, Waltine ‘Walt’ Nauta, actively concealed classified records containing sensitive national security information and obstructed attempts to recover them. Trump potentially revealed a legal defence he plans to use in court by stating that the decision to segregate personal materials from presidential records is at the president’s sole discretion during their term.

During his speech, Trump drew attention to alleged misdeeds by the Democratic Party, including his 2016 presidential rival Hillary Clinton and former House Representative Anthony Weiner. He promised that if elected in 2024, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden, whose lawyers recovered a “small number” of classified documents at his Delaware home and Washington, DC office.

Experts have noted the differences between Trump’s and Biden’s cases, highlighting that Biden’s lawyers proactively turned over the documents and authorised a search of the Delaware residence. In contrast, Trump is accused of concealing boxes of documents with his aide’s assistance. Democratic strategist Richard Goodstein pointed out that both former Vice President Mike Pence and Biden contacted authorities to retrieve classified documents as soon as they realised they had them.

John Feehery of EFB Advocacy told Al Jazeera that Trump’s speech would likely resonate with his Republican base, as he is a “master of weaving a narrative of him being a martyr.”