Former president donald trump He said in a new interview that he was reluctant to deliver boxes of classified documents because he was “busy” and needed to sort them to remove personal items, including golf shirts and shoes.
Trump spoke with foxnewsBret Baier in an interview that aired on Sunday, his first since he was charged with 37 counts linked to his handling of confidential files after he left the White House. The prosecutors have focused on his supposed efforts to obstruct federal investigators trying to recover the classified material, and Baier asked the former president why he did not return the boxes even after receiving a government subpoena.
“The only way NARA could get these things back would be to (say): ‘Please, please, could we get them back?'” Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, he responded.
“And they asked for it, they asked for it,” Baier said. “And then they went to the DOJ to subpoena you. Why not just hand them over then?
“Because I had boxes,” Trump said. “I want to go through the boxes and take out all my personal things. I don’t want to hand that over to NARA yet. And he was very busy as you have seen.
He went on to address claims in the indictment that he told an attendant to move the boxes to other locations after telling lawyers to say he had fully complied: “Before I ship the boxes, I have to get all my stuff out.”
“These boxes were interspersed with all kinds of things,” Trump said. “Golf shirts, clothes, pants, shoes.”
“Iran War Plans?” Baier asked.
“Not that I know of,” said the former president.
Trump has repeatedly defended his actions after leaving the Oval Office, saying he had a standing order to declassify documents while in the White House and that he had a “absolute” right take anything he wanted under the Presidential Records Act. The law makes it clear that all materials created or received by the president or his staff in the performance of official duties belong to the government.
Baier then asked Trump if he still had any sensitive files in his possession, drawing a fierce response from him.
“No, I don’t have anything, no,” he said. “What worries me is that they took everything. I don’t know what they took. They could be stuffing it.
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