GEORGIA (US): Former US President Donald Trump on Saturday termed the federal indictment against him as "ridiculous and baseless", while making his first public appearance since the charges were brought against him.
These were Trump’s first public remarks since the Department of Justice made the charges in an indictment a day earlier.
Saying that the indictment of Trump by the Biden administration is ‘ridiculous and baseless’, he claimed the 'Department of Injustice’ will likely to go down as among the most terrible abuses of power in the history of the country, Trump said, calling it a “travesty of justice."
The 37-count indictment against Trump, which was made public on Friday, accuses him of keeping sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in an inappropriate manner, including keeping those in a ballroom and a shower.
37 federal counts against Trump are included in the indictment over his storage of national defense documents at his Florida resort home and his failure to turn them over to the FBI and the National Archives. Conspiracies to obstruct justice and making false statements are also included in the charges.
Each of the charges in the 37-count indictment carries a fine up to US dollars 250,000, and prison sentences ranging from between 5 and 20 years.
While speaking at two campaigns on Saturday, in Georgia and later in North Carolina, Trump said the indictment against him amounted to "election interference" by the "corrupt" FBI and justice department. In both places, he talked for more than an hour.
He has also denied that he had done anything wrong, true to his inimitable style.
Donald Trump has been charged with not properly handling hundreds of classified documents, including some containing information on US nuclear secrets and military plans.
The indictment also alleged that he lied to investigators and tried to obstruct their investigation into his mishandling of the documents.
This indictment against Trump is the first criminal prosecution launched against a former US president.
Trump launched a scathing attack on the Biden administration at the first Republican Party convention in Georgia, saying, "They're cheating, they're crooked, they're corrupt - these criminals cannot be rewarded, they must be defeated."
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