Former US President Donald Trump appeared this Tuesday afternoon (13) at the Florida federal court in Miami, under heavy police escort and surrounded by demonstrators for and against him. In court, Trump denied the 37 charges he will face in court and said the lawsuit was political persecution.
Of the 37 charges facing Trump, 31 relate to illegal possession of confidential government documents. According to prosecutors, Trump would have kept more than 100 classified papers at his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, which were seized in an FBI operation in August 2022. Among the documents would be intelligence reports, diplomatic memos and executive orders that should have been returned or destroyed after the end of his term.
The other charges are conspiracy to obstruct justice, “corrupt” concealment of a document or record, concealment of a document in a federal investigation, intent to conceal crimes, and false declaration and misrepresentation. A former Trump adviser, Walt Nauta, is also accused of participating in the conspiracy and was on Tuesday in the same courtroom, along with the former president.
Trump’s defense claims that the seized documents were not classified and that he had the right to keep them as part of his presidential legacy. The indictment alleges that Trump violated the law by failing to deliver or dispose of the papers that contained sensitive information about the national security and international relations of the United States.
The case is considered historic, as it is the first time that a former president has been charged with federal crimes in the US. The trial, however, does not harm Trump’s hopes of returning to the White House, as there is no law that prevents candidates under prosecution from participating in the election race. After Tuesday’s hearing, Trump would head to his golf club in New Jersey, where he will speak to voters.
According to Reuters, the former president’s legal problems have not harmed his standing with Republican voters. A survey commissioned by the agency from the Ipsos company and released on Monday (12) showed that Trump still leads the race for the Republican Party nomination for the 2024 presidential election by a wide margin. The poll also found that 81% of Republican voters see the accusations against Trump as “politically motivated”.
#Trump #appears #court #pleads #guilty #counts #classified #documents #case