Former President Donald Trump has reiterated claims he is the victim of a “witch hunt” and being framed for “treason”, in his first public appearance since being indicted.
It is his first public appearance since a federal indictment charged him with 37 felony counts in connection with hoarding classified documents.
He called it “one of the most horrific abuses of power in our country”, a “vicious persecution” and a “travesty of justice” by Joe Biden’s administration.
He reiterated claims he won the 2020 election, saying: “We have fake elections, we have no borders, we have inflation.”
Mr Trump is speaking to friendly Republican audiences in Georgia and North Carolina as he tries to rally supporters to his defence.
He repeated an assertion he had done nothing wrong, claiming he had been covered by the Presidential Records Act.
“This whole fake indictment, they don’t even once mention the presidential records act… Because they want to use something called the espionage act,” he said.
Republican’s counteroffensive
While the indictment on charges of mishandling classified documents is set to play out in a federal court in Florida, about a thousand miles away, part of Trump’s defence is well underway in a different venue – the halls of Congress.
Republicans have been preparing for months to wage an aggressive counteroffensive against the Justice Department.
The Republican campaign to discredit federal prosecutors skims over the substance of those charges, which were brought by a grand jury in Florida.
GOP lawmakers are instead working, as they have for several years, to foster a broader argument that law enforcement – and President Joe Biden – are conspiring against the former president and possible Republican nominee for president in 2024.
Pic: Department of Justice
Front runner for GOP nomination
He remains the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, despite his mounting legal woes. He has repeatedly claimed he is the victim of a politically motivated “witch hunt” by Biden’s Justice Department.
Trump is accused of wilfully defying Justice Department demands to return classified documents, enlisting aides in his efforts to hide the records and even telling his lawyers that he wanted to defy a subpoena for the materials stored at his residence.
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Pic: Department of Justice
The indictment includes allegations that he stored documents in a shower and ballroom at his resort, among other places.
The most serious charges carry potential prison sentences of up to 20 years each, but first-time offenders rarely get anywhere near the maximum sentence and the decision would ultimately be up to the judge.