Last week, responding to news that the U.S. Department of Justice had turned over the first batch of evidence it intends to use against him, former President Donald Trump turned to his Truth Social platform to plead with members of Congress to help him overcome federal criminal charges filed against him.
Trump, who was indicted last month on charges relating to his possession of classified material – something virtually all modern presidents before him are also guilty of – slammed the Justice Department as “corrupt” and lashed out at the FBI.
“CONGRESS, PLEASE INVESTIGATE THE POLITICAL WITCH HUNTS AGAINST ME CURRENTLY BEING BROUGHT BY THE CORRUPT DOJ AND FBI, WHO ARE TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL,” Trump wrote, entirely in uppercase, on Thursday.
The former president also appeared to suggest that some of the evidence used in the case may have been planted.
While many certifiably anti-Trump news outlets were quick to point out that Trump himself has admitted to taking the classified documents, stating that the documents were automatically declassified the moment he took them during his time as president, it remains unclear what evidence the former president may be claiming is planted.
“Congress will hopefully now look at the ever continuing Witch Hunts and ELECTION INTERFERENCE against me on perfectly legal Boxes, where I have no doubt that information is being secretly ‘planted’ by the scoundrels in charge,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Until Trump or his legal team are more specific, it’s hard to know specifically what the former president could be hinting at.
Here’s What the Indictment Says
According to the 44-page indictment filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, former President Donald Trump “endeavored to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal retention of classified documents.”
Also named in the suit is Walt Nauta, an aide to the former president who also worked as a valet in the White House.
Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The indictment outlines 37 felony counts against the former president, including 31 counts of “willful retention of national defense information.” Trump is also accused of one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements and representations.
If convicted, the former president faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
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