Trump slams ridiculous indictment, claims attack on supporters

In his first public appearances since the unsealing of a federal indictment, former United States President Donald Trump has denounced the 37 felony counts against him as “ridiculous” and “baseless.” Addressing Republican state conventions in Georgia and North Carolina over the weekend, Trump framed the indictment as an assault on his supporters and an attempt to hinder his potential return to the White House.

Trump told the audience in Georgia, “They’ve launched one witch-hunt after another to try and stop our movement, to thwart the will of the American people.” He continued, “In the end, they’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you.”

The indictment, which was unsealed on Friday, accuses Trump of willfully defying Justice Department demands to return classified documents, enlisting aides to help conceal the records, and expressing his desire to defy a subpoena for the materials stored at his residence. Allegations include storing documents in a ballroom and a toilet at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Trump is scheduled to make his first federal court appearance on Tuesday in Miami. Despite his mounting legal troubles, including criminal charges filed against him in March in New York, he remains the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican Party nomination. In an interview with US-based news site Politico, Trump stated that he would stay in the race even if convicted, adding, “I’ll never leave.”

During the party convention in Georgia, Trump received a warm welcome and enthusiastic applause as he criticised the investigation as “a political hit job.” He accused his political adversaries of initiating “one hoax and witch hunt after another” to prevent his re-election.

“The ridiculous and baseless indictment by the Biden administration’s weaponised Department of Injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country,” he declared. Trump also took the opportunity to criticise President Joe Biden and his 2016 Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, accusing them of mishandling classified information and claiming he was treated unfairly because he is a Republican.

Furthermore, Trump revisited Georgia’s role in his 2020 defeat, reiterating unfounded claims that he had won the state and defending his efforts to overturn Biden’s victory. This matter is the subject of another ongoing investigation led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has indicated that any indictments would likely come in August.

Central to the investigation is a recorded phone conversation in which Trump urges Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” – just enough to surpass Biden and reverse Trump’s narrow loss in the state. Trump has defended the phone call as “perfect” and attacked Willis and the special counsel in the Mar-a-Lago case.

Charged alongside Trump is valet Walt Nauta, a personal aide whom prosecutors allege moved boxes from a storage room to Trump’s residence for review and later lied to investigators about the movement. Nauta accompanied Trump during his Georgia visit, appearing with him at a Waffle House stop where the former president signed autographs, posed for photos, and told supporters, “We did absolutely nothing wrong.”