Former United States President Donald Trump has criticised his federal indictment by the Department of Justice as “ridiculous” and “baseless” during his first public appearances since the charges were unsealed, painting the 37 felony counts as an attack on his supporters.
Speaking at Republican state conventions in Georgia and North Carolina on Saturday, Trump cast the indictment as an attempt to damage his chances of returning to the White House as he campaigns for a second term.
“They’ve launched one witch-hunt after another to try and stop our movement, to thwart the will of the American people,” Trump alleged in Georgia, later telling the crowd, “In the end, they’re not coming after me.
They’re coming after you.”
The indictment unsealed on Friday afternoon charges Trump with willfully defying Justice Department demands that he return classified documents, enlisting aides in his efforts to hide the records, as well as telling his lawyers that he wanted to defy a subpoena for the materials stored at his residence.
The indictment includes allegations that he stored documents in a ballroom and a toilet at his Mar-a-Lago resort, among other places.
Credit: aljazeera.com
