By Chris Muhizi for MCN Wednesday June 14/2023.
After pledging not guilty at his arraignment in Miami, Florida, former US President Donald Trump has denied the federal allegations he is facing about his handling of secret documents. #Reuters reports
37 counts of hiding and improper handling of secret documents have been brought against Trump. A secret indictment against Trump that listed 37 criminal allegations, including 31 under the Espionage Act, was made public by the US Justice Department on Friday.
The indictment claims that Trump and his staffer Waltine ‘Walt’ Nauta purposefully hid the secret documents, some of which included very sensitive national security information, and thwarted efforts to recover them.
at his speech, President Trump reportedly stated that “the decision to separate personal materials from presidential records is made by the president during the president’s term and in the president’s sole discretion.”
Right in the middle of a presidential race, “a corrupt sitting president had his top political opponent arrested on false and fabricated charges of which he and numerous other presidents would be guilty,” Trump said.
Trump came out striking in his meandering speech on Tuesday, labeling Justice Department officials “thugs” and the special counsel overseeing the inquiry “deranged”.
The Justice Department contradicts Trump’s claims that he had a right to the classified records under the Presidential Records Act and that he declassified them before leaving office. He admitted in the indictment that he was aware that he had not released a document before his presidency ended.
Trump spent a significant portion of his address spotlighting alleged Democratic Party wrongdoings, naming a number of political opponents, from his 2016 presidential rival Hilary Clinton to the scandal-plagued former House Representative Anthony Weiner.
The throng that was cheering for Trump briefly cut off his address when they started singing “Happy Birthday” to him because the Republican nominee will turn 78 on Wednesday.