Trump complains of being accused of withholding and hiding secret documents

donald trump Tuesday night he complained, once again, that he was charged with dozens of felonies for withholding highly confidential national defense documents at his Florida country club and then conspiring to hide them from authorities trying to retrieve them.

The former president hosted his news conference at his country club in Bedminster, New Jersey, just hours after pleading not guilty to 37 charges in federal court in Miami. He was indicted last week after an investigation by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November to take over the investigation after Trump declared him a candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

“This day will fall in infamy,” Trump told a crowd of his special guests, calling the filing against him a “false accusation” designed only to hurt his presidential campaign. “They should drop this case immediately because they are destroying the country.”

In his 35 minutes of statements, he again attacked Smith with insults. “Take a look at this guy. He looked like a thug,” he said. “He is a raging, out-of-control enemy of Trump.”

During the hour-long hearing in Miami court, Trump was sitting just feet from Smith, but he didn’t say a word to him, let alone insult him, according to reporters in the courtroom. Smith, who before confronting Trump had been assigned to prosecute war criminals in The Hague, looked at Trump for long periods, even when he was gone.

Trump once again claimed that he was allowed to keep any documents he wanted, a claim refuted by many legal experts, including Trump’s own attorney general, Bill Barr, who was a Democrat. Joe Biden that he had broken the law by storing some of his vice presidential records in an office in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. This, in Trump’s view, meant that Chinese spies had access to the records.

He complained that neither Biden nor former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had been charged. “I did everything right and they accused me,” she said.

Smith is also running a separate investigation into Trump’s January 6, 2021 coup attempt, which culminated in thousands of his supporters storming the US Capitol to pressure the then-Vice President. mike pence and lawmakers to grant Trump a second term despite his election loss to Joe Biden. One hundred and forty policemen were injured during the attack, and one died the next day. Four more officers took their lives in the coming weeks.

Trump is also under investigation by the Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney for trying to force state officials to overturn his 2020 election loss in that swing state.

Trump has already been indicted in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a $130,000 payment to a porn star in the days leading up to the 2016 election. His trial in that case is set for next spring.

Despite all the criminal allegations and investigations, Trump remains the Republican favorite for the 2024 presidential nomination as he seeks a return to the White House.