After the indictment of former US president Donald Trump in a case of keeping classified documents after leaving the Oval Office in 2021, his lawyer Alina Habba said the files were declassified and he had done nothing wrong, adding that “the accusations against the 76-year-old are politically motivated.”
Habba said the former president “would not take a plea deal to minimise the fallout” from the case as he seeks his Republican nomination for the 2024 election.
The former president is scheduled to appear Tuesday in federal court in Miami on 37 charges, including violations of the Espionage Act, making false statements and conspiracy regarding his mishandling of classified information, in his second indictment since he left office.
Earlier he was indicted regarding hush money payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He denies all the charges and also pleaded not guilty.
“He would never admit guilt, because there was nothing wrong with declassifying documents,” Habba told Fox News, adding that “this is completely politically motivated. It’s election interference at its best.”
She also portrayed the presidential candidate of 2024 opposition to federal agents rifling through his boxes during a search at his Mar-a-Lago home as frustration over officials going through his personal effects.
“He has every right to have classified documents that he declassified… things that are mementoes, things that he has a right to take.”
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“So if I’m someone with documents that I have a right to have as the president who left the White House, do I want people rummaging through my personal items? No,” she stated.
During the last year of Donald Trump’s presidency, former US attorney general Bill Barr said his ex-boss faces “solid counts” filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and that the ex-president is no victim of a witch hunt, as he insists.
“The idea that the president has complete authority to declare any document personal is… ridiculous,” Barr told Fox News.
If even half the indictment is true, “then he’s toast,” Barr added. “It’s very, very damning.”
The charges, brought by DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith, each carry up to 20 years in prison.
Investigations and Trump’s response
In his statement, Trump demanded Republicans in Congress to prioritise this issue, while maintaining that he has done nothing wrong.
On Truth Social, Trump said Friday: “The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax, even though Joe Biden has 1850 Boxes at the University of Delaware, additional Boxes in Chinatown, DC, with even more Boxes at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents strewn all over his garage floor where he parks his Corvette, and which is secured by only a garage door that is paper thin, and open much of the time.”
“I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3PM.”
“I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the US, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election. I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”
“This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a Country in serious and rapid Decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!”
