Published: Less than 2 hours ago
Updated: Less than 1 hour ago
NEW YORK. “Disturbed, evil, criminals”.
In his first public speech after the historic indictment, Donald Trump was belligerent – and attacked the FBI and the prosecutor.
– There are sick people who must be cleared out immediately.
For the first time since the federal indictment, Donald Trump took to the stage at the Republican Party convention in Georgia on Saturday night.
He quickly went on the attack – against the FBI, the Biden administration and the independent prosecutor who made the indictment decision.
– They cheat, they are crooks, they are corrupt – these criminals cannot be rewarded, they must be defeated.
The speech comes exactly 24 hours after the prosecutor’s 37-count indictment, in which Trump is accused of keeping some of the United States’ most sensitive documents in his Florida home, in cardboard boxes in a toilet and in a ballroom.
Nuclear weapons secrets
The top-secret documents, which Trump, according to the indictment, refused to return to the authorities after his time in the White House, should include information about US nuclear weapons secrets and military plans.
The indictment also details how Trump allegedly lied to FBI agents and attempted to obstruct the investigation into his handling of the documents.
It is still unclear why Trump was so keen to keep the national security information.
Historic prosecution
It’s the first time a US president has ever been charged in a federal case — and a conviction could potentially lead to decades in prison.
FACTS
This has happened – according to the indictment
January 20, 2021: Donald Trump’s last day as president
In connection with the 45th president of the United States leaving the White House, he has boxes of documents sent to his private residence at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. The boxes contain letters, photos and newspaper clippings – but also hundreds of classified documents.
May 2021
The US National Archives discovers that documents from Trump’s presidency are missing and requests that he hand over any documents he may have brought with him.
The request is repeated several times. But the documents are not returned.
June 2021
The National Archives is threatening to turn to the Department of Justice if Trump does not comply with the call.
July 2021
Trump allegedly showed a military “attack plan” that he himself says is “top secret” to a writer visiting to interview him at home.
August/September 2021
Trump allegedly showed a classified map linked to military operations abroad to an associate in his campaign organization.
December 2021
Walt Nauta, co-indicted as Trump’s aide, discovers that several boxes have collapsed and documents are scattered across the floor of a storage room. He sends a picture of the mess to a colleague – it clearly shows that at least one of the scattered documents is marked “SECRET”.
January 2022
After further pressure from the National Archives, Trump hands over 15 boxes with 69 documents marked “secret”, 98 marked “secret” and 30 “top secret”.
February 2022
Trump’s campaign organization describes the return of the secret documents as “a small matter”.
The National Archives does not agree and hands the matter over to the Ministry of Justice.
March & April 2022
The FBI begins an investigation. Just under a month later, a grand jury begins its investigation.
August 2022
After several months of trying to get Trump to hand over all the boxes of documents, the Department of Justice is granted permission to search Mar-a-Lago.
When the FBI searches the property, a total of around 13,000 documents are seized – 102 of them classified.
June 8, 2023
A grand jury in Miami indicts Trump and Walt Nauta.
Trump broke the news on his social media platform “Truth social”, calling it “a dark day for America” and claiming his innocence. He also says that he will prove his innocence “very, very clearly and hopefully very quickly”.
June 9, 2023
The 37-count indictment against Trump is made public. Undertaker Walt Nauta is indicted on six counts.
Trump is suspected of over 30 violations of the Espionage Act and of having “attempted to obstruct justice”.
June 13, 2023
At 3 p.m. (local time), Trump is expected to make a first appearance in federal court in Miami.
(TT)
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But during the nearly 90-minute speech on Saturday, Trump scoffed at the allegations. He called the prosecution “fake”, “a hoax” and “a joke”.
Instead, Trump is pushing the thesis that the charges are a politically motivated witch hunt by the Justice Department and the Biden administration.
– They hate our country. We are going to take the country back from the fascists and the crooks, he said during the speech.
– Witch hunt, witch hunt. Scam, scam. It’s called electoral influence, and they do the best they can with it, he repeated time and time again.
Donald Trump is standing in the presidential election in 2024, and according to opinion polls, he is leading the fight to become the Republican candidate. He is expected to challenge the incumbent president, Joe Biden.
Thus, the United States is faced with a unique situation: Where the sitting president’s Department of Justice prosecutes his opponent candidate.
Extremely troubling evidence
Many top Republicans have rushed to defend Trump after the indictment news.
But experts say the criminal charges are serious, and the evidence and testimony gathered is extremely troubling for the former president.
Trump tries to draw parallels between his handling of the documents and the fact that classified documents were also found with President Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence.
However, there are several differences.
The scope, its content — and Trump’s refusal to return the documents, which led to an FBI raid of his Florida home last August.
The indictment refers, among other things, to the US Espionage Act, something Trump sneered at during the speech in Georgia.
– If it really was a big spy operation – then we did a bad job. If so, the boxes would not have been on the sidewalk in front of the White House when they were loaded to be moved to Florida.
“Must be cleaned out”
Trump also took wild swings at Jack Smith, the independent prosecutor appointed to oversee the Justice Department’s investigations into him. He called Smith “deranged” and an “open Trump hater.”
– These are sick people who need to be cleared out immediately, Trump said.
During the speech, the 76-year-old Florida native wanted to paint a picture of himself as the only candidate who can stop “the radical left-wing lunatics” and the “corrupt system.”
– It is the last battle. This is the most important election we’ve had, he thundered to cheering Republicans.
On Tuesday, Trump will appear in court in Miami, for a first court hearing connected to the indictment.
Within a couple of days, the police and intelligence services hastened to prepare for the countless security risks that the visit entails.
On social media, Trump has already called for protests. Above a picture of the court with the words “Trump document hoax rally”, he writes:
See you in Miami on Tuesday!!!
FACTS
More legal cases against Donald Trump
The accounting violations
34 counts of indictment against Donald Trump who are accused, among other things, of having ordered payments to people who threatened to release sensitive information about him in connection with the 2016 presidential election campaign. The trial is scheduled for March 2024.
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The 2020 election – the storming of Congress
Federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that Donald Trump and his advisers tried to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
A special committee of the House of Representatives has previously recommended that Trump and advisers be prosecuted for having exerted pressure on the outcome of the election. The House of Representatives investigation included an examination of the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
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State of Georgia
An investigation is underway into the phone call Donald Trump made to Georgia Chief Election Officer Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump wanted Republican Raffensperger to “find the 11,780 votes” needed for Trump to defeat Joe Biden in the state in the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors have already warned Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani and several local Republicans that they risk formal charges.
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State of New York
New York State Attorney General Letitia James has sued the former president and his Trump Organization for misleading tax authorities about the value of real estate and golf courses in order to get loans and tax breaks. James is seeking $250 million in damages. A civil case will begin in October. Prosecutors in Manhattan have investigated the same suspicions, but chose not to press charges.
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Allegation of rape
In a civil lawsuit, a newspaper columnist claims she was raped by Donald Trump in the mid-1990s. At the trial that ended in May, the jury concluded that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her and that he was guilty of defamation, when he claimed that the columnist’s statement was a lie made up to sell books.
Trump was ordered to pay $5 million in damages, but has said he will appeal.
(Source: TT)
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