Image: JIM WATSON (AFP)
He maintained his innocence and called his successor Joe Biden’s government “corrupt”.
The FBI searched Trump’s private residence in Florida in August and seized various classified files, some with the highest level of confidentiality. The fact that the Republican kept the documents in his private home long after he left office could have made him liable to prosecution. For months, the National Archives tried to get papers from Trump’s administration. Trump’s lawyers finally handed over documents – but by no means all of them, as the FBI search revealed.
“The corrupt Biden administration has informed my lawyers that charges have been brought against me, apparently for fraud (of allegedly classified documents) in boxes (…)”, Trump wrote without making it clear who his team was had contacted exactly. He had been subpoenaed and was due to appear in court in Miami on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. (local time). “I never thought it would happen to a former President of the United States (…)” he wrote. He added, “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” It is “a dark day” for the United States.
“Everything about this case is fishy”
Trump’s attorney Jim Trusty outlined possible charges against the ex-president in the affair of secret documents “We have not yet received an indictment,” Trusty told CNN. Instead, Trump and his team received a subpoena that contained wording that indicated possible charges. Trusty said he expects Trump to be charged with, among other things, collecting, transmitting or losing defense information. This point falls under the US espionage law and can be punished with up to ten years imprisonment. Other wording pointed to charges of obstruction of justice and false testimony.
“Everything about this case is absolutely fishy,” said Jim Trusty. His client immediately recognized that “this is a historical event that crosses the Rubicon”. The US Department of Justice has become a weapon of the Democratic Party and serves the incumbent government, Trusty said. He stressed that Trump was innocent.
Trump allies and other Republicans also reacted with outrage. “The use of state law enforcement as a weapon poses a deadly threat to a free society,” said Ron DeSantis, Florida governor and Trump’s biggest competitor for the Republican presidential nomination. “We’ve seen unequal application of the law based on political affiliation for years. Why are you so zealous in pursuing Trump and yet so passive to Hillary (Clinton) or Hunter (Biden)?” Texas Senator Ted Cruz, once Trump’s internal opponent for the presidency, said: “The indictment of Donald Trump is the culmination of what (Attorney General) Merrick Garland has been pushing for since his appointment as Attorney General. Using our Justice Department as a weapon against enemies of the Biden Administration will do enormous damage to the rule of law and have lasting effects.”
“Dark day” for the USA
The prominent Democratic member of the House of Representatives, Adam Schiff, naturally struck a different note: “Donald Trump must now face federal charges. He will try to exploit these charges for political purposes. Because winning the presidency could be his only hope, escape jail time. He must be held accountable. There is a standard of the rule of law. Anything else is not democracy.”
The US Department of Justice appointed independent special counsel Jack Smith in November to outsource the politically sensitive investigation into Trump. On the one hand, Smith takes care of the investigations in connection with secret government documents. On the other hand, he deals with Trump’s role in the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and his efforts to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. A committee of inquiry had recommended criminal investigations to the Ministry of Justice. Among other things, he accuses Trump of rioting, obstructing a public process and conspiring against the US government.
Trump has long railed that his opponents are merely trying to prevent him from returning to the White House in 2024. He officially announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in November. So far, he’s ahead in polls among party supporters – but a lot can still happen before the final decision is made.
Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the impeachment of Donald Trump was a “dark day” for the United States. “Republicans in the House of Representatives will hold this brazen exercise of power accountable,” he wrote on Twitter on Thursday (local time). He is on the side of the former president.
Secret documents also at Biden
Trump had already been charged in New York in connection with hush money payments to a porn star. However, further investigations are still underway against him. In Georgia, prosecutors are investigating him for possible vote-rigging. In another case, Trump has already been prosecuted – at least indirectly: his real estate group was fined in New York for tax fraud, among other things.
Secret government documents from his time as Vice President under Barack Obama were also found on US President Joe Biden in premises where they should not have been kept. Here, too, an independent special investigator is active. In Biden’s case, however, there are significantly fewer documents. According to the White House, Biden has also not refused to hand over documents.
Source: Nachrichten
