Donald Trump says boxes with classified documents had ‘all types of personal belongings’
Former President Donald Trump in his first address after his arraignment in the classified documents case said the boxes of records had ‘all types of personal belongings’.
Speaking from his Bedminster golf club on Tuesday night, Trump said, ‘Many people have asked me why I had these boxes, why did you want them?’
‘The answer, in addition to having every right under the Presidential Records Act, is that these boxes were containing all types of personal belongings,’ explained Trump.
‘Many, many things, shirts and shoes, everything, as can be seen in the picture.’
Trump hours earlier pleaded not guilty to 37 felony charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents that he took with him to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House. The charges against him include possession of national security documents after leaving office, obstruction and false statements. Trump is the first former president to be charged with a federal crime.
The indictment against Trump unsealed on Friday contained pictures of boxes of records across his Mar-a-Lago home.
Trump pointed out that one of the pictures showed that the contents of a box spilled over the floor included ‘newspapers and thousands of White House pictures’.
‘White House photographers took so many pictures and we saved all of them and they were in those boxes,’ Trump continued.
‘Clothing, memorabilia and much, much more.
‘I hadn’t had a chance to go through all the boxes’, Trump said, saying it is ‘tedious’ work and that he has ‘a very busy life’.
The ex-president hours after surrendering at a Miami federal court walked out to cheers from his supporters at his New Jersey golf club. ‘God Bless the USA’ played in the background as Trump emerged at 8.45pm to and was greeted with ‘USA!’ chants.
His Bedminster property was filled dozens of white chairs for his top donors and allies. The stage was adorned with American flags.
‘Nice birthday, isn’t?’ said Trump, who turns 77 on Wednesday, sarcastically. ‘Wonderful birthday.’
That prompted his supporters to sing part of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song.
Trump said it was a ‘wonderful birthday’ given prosecutors are seeking a maximum of 400 years in prison for him if found guilty of the 37 charges.
‘We’re going to make it into the greatest birthday of all,’ Trump said, referring to his unrelenting campaign to win the 2024 election.
Trump attacked the special counsel overseeing the classified documents probe as ‘deranged’ Jack Smith.
‘I’m here and I love you all and we can take it,’ Trump told the crowd.
After leaving the Wilkie D Ferguson Jr US Courthouse, Trump stopped by a famous Cuban restaurant in Little Havana to meet with patrons. He pumped his fist as he boarded his private plane around 4.40pm in Miami. Trump landed at Newark International Airport in New Jersey shortly after 7.30pm, and headed for his golf club about 35 miles west in Bedminster where he planned to appear at 8.15pm.
He spoke for about half an hour, then retreated indoors.
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