Former President Donald Trump adopted a familiarly defiant tone in response to news this week that he faces another indictment. This time, federal prosecutors are reportedly pursuing seven counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
In a social media post and video, he emphasized his innocence and described the charges against him as yet another partisan effort to stymie his political ambitions ahead of the 2024 presidential race.
Trump, who has emerged as the early front-runner in a crowded GOP primary field, began his remarks by asserting that America is “a nation in decline,” lamenting that the government is misallocating its resources to achieve short-term political victories.
“They go after a popular president, a president that got more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country by far and did much better the second time in the election than the first, and they go after him on a boxes hoax, just like the Russia Russia Russia hoax and all the others,” he said. “It’s just been going on for seven years that they can’t stop because it’s election interference at the highest level.”
Citing previous investigations that have since fizzled out, Trump declared: “I’m an innocent man. I’m an innocent person.”
Nevertheless, he claimed that his Democratic rivals continue to engage in probes that they hope will end his career in politics.
“This is what they do so well,” he said. “If they would devote their energies to honesty and integrity, it would be a lot better for our country. They could do a lot better. They could do a lot of great things.”
Trump recapped some of the highlights of his first term in office and emphasized recent polls that show him performing well against Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head race, determining that Democrats are desperate to derail his momentum.
“They figured the way they’re going to stop us is by using what’s called warfare,” he declared. “That’s what it is. This is warfare for the law. And we can’t let it happen. We can’t let that happen.”
In addition to a number of prominent Republican officials, Trump’s attorney also spoke out against the latest charges being pursued against the former president. In a statement to CNN confirming the indictment, Jim Trusty called the ordeal “ludicrous.”
Trump is innocent and any prosecution of him would be a wild abuse of power. https://t.co/VOso4ZrEa6
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) June 7, 2023
While the perception of bias against Trump appears to have increased GOP support for his campaign, one notable exception is long-shot primary rival Asa Hutchinson.
“While Donald Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, the ongoing criminal proceedings will be a major distraction,” said the former Arkansas governor. “This reaffirms the need for Donald Trump to respect the office and end his campaign.”
