Donald Trump urged prosecutors to drop the charges against him and insisted on his innocence in his first public remarks following his arraignment in federal court over mishandling classified materials.
“This day will go down in infamy,” the former president told a friendly audience at his Bedminster golf resort in New Jersey on Tuesday night, dismissing the charges as “election interference” — offering a preview of how he will fight the case.
Trump claimed he had the right to keep the boxes of materials found in his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, while President Joe Biden and others who kept records weren’t prosecuted. Biden, however, returned those documents willingly once they were discovered.
“I’m not the one who thinks I’m above the law. I’m the one that followed the law,” Trump said, hours after his arraignment in Miami. “It’s Joe Biden and his corrupt department of injustice who think they are above the law.”
As Trump was preparing to speak at Bedminster, Biden was hosting a Juneteenth event at the White House where he brushed aside his predecessor’s indictment. At the same celebration, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the crowd gathered on the South Lawn, delivering a message heavy on the themes that she and Biden will sound through their reelection campaign.
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Earlier Tuesday, Trump pleaded not guilty to the 37 counts the US Justice Department brought against him. The indictment alleges that he willfully retained top-secret government documents and conspired to stymie US officials’ efforts to recover them.
“I had every right to have these documents,” Trump said at Bedminster. “The decision to segregate personal materials from presidential records is made by the president, during the president’s term. And in the president’s sole discretion.”
Many people have asked why he had these boxes, he said.
“These boxes were containing all types of personal belongings — many, many shirts, shoes, everything,” Trump said. “I hadn’t had a chance to go through all the boxes. It’s a long tedious job - takes a long time, which I was prepared to do, but I have a very busy life.”
Trump is trying to turn his second indictment in 10 weeks into a fresh opportunity to generate funds for his White House comeback effort and bolster his polling lead in a crowded field of Republican 2024 presidential candidates. His campaign said it had raised more than $15 million in the days after his April 4 indictment by a Manhattan grand jury.
The charges in that case stemmed from allegations that Trump paid hush money to an adult film star shortly before the 2016 presidential election to cover up an alleged sexual encounter. He has denied the encounter and pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Rather than wound Trump politically, the New York indictment only bolstered his status in the GOP nomination contest. His poll numbers surged, political rivals were pressured to defend him and his strident supporters echoed his claims that the charges were politically motivated.
Trump, the first ex-president to face federal charges, currently leads his nearest challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis by over 30 percentage points, according to an average of national polls compiled by RealClearPolitics.
During the legal proceedings, he has continued his years-long unsubstantiated claims of a so-called Deep State entrenched within federal agencies like the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation hellbent on opposing him.
Trump, who attacked Special Prosecutor Jack Smith in multiple social-media posts before his arraignment, called him “a thug” and a “deranged lunatic” Tuesday.
The former president, who has long complained about Democrats “weaponizing” law enforcement against political enemies, also said he would have a special prosecutor appointed to investigate Biden and his family if elected.
Surrounded by Allies
Immediately after leaving court Tuesday, Trump made a carefully orchestrated stop at a Cuban restaurant in Miami, listening as a faith leader in a kippah prayed over him, then as the cheering crowd sang to him, a day ahead of his 77th birthday.
“Some birthday,” Trump said. “We have a country that is in decline like never before,” he added.
At Bedminster, Trump was joined by allies, including Mike Lindell, chief executive officer of MyPillow Inc., who has promoted the false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Lindell predicted Trump would be the GOP nominee, calling the indictment a “big hoax.” “There was nothing done with any malicious intent at all,” he told reporters.
A guest, referencing the discount promotions Lindell offers for his pillows, jokingly asked, “What’s the promo code?”
“FBI,” Lindell answered.
Trump made his remarks to a previously planned fundraiser attended by several hundred guests who paid at least $1,000 a ticket.
Among others attending were agribusiness executive Charles Herbster, who lost the 2022 Nebraska gubernatorial primary; Andrew Giuliani, an ex-White House aide and son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; and former Trump adviser Bernie Kerik, a onetime New York City police commissioner under Giuliani.
--With assistance from Mark Niquette.
(Updates with additional detail and Trump comments throughout.)
