Trump magnifies attacks on US Justice Department in first public appearance since indictment
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Former president Donald Trump said at a Republican convention in Georgia that US President Joe Biden had orchestrated the criminal charges to undermine his presidential campaign.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
ATLANTA - Former United States president Donald Trump used his first public appearance since his federal indictment to ratchet up attacks on the Justice Department, accusing prosecutors, without evidence, of a politically motivated campaign to keep him from the White House.
Speaking on Saturday at Georgia’s state Republican convention, he alleged that President Joe Biden, a Democrat, orchestrated the criminal charges in order to undermine his main political rival’s presidential campaign, as well as to distract attention from federal and congressional investigations into Mr Biden’s son.
There is no evidence to support Trump’s claims.
The Justice Department maintains that all its investigative decisions are made without regard to partisan politics, and Mr Biden has said he would not get involved in the Trump probe.
“The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration’s weaponised department of injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country,” Trump told the crowd of local party officials.
“This vicious persecution is a travesty of justice.”
His remarks came one day after prosecutors unsealed a 37-count indictment against him, alleging he mishandled classified documents
Prosecutors allege that Trump held on to materials, including documents about the US nuclear programme and domestic vulnerabilities to a potential attack, that he knew he should not have retained.
The 49-page indictment also detailed two instances where Trump allegedly shared classified information with people not authorised to receive it, as well as efforts to obstruct government investigators seeking to retrieve the materials.
The indictment of a former US president on federal charges is unprecedented in American history. Trump remains the clear front runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
He told Politico on Saturday that he will continue running for president even if he was convicted.
The charges ensure the case will be a focal point of the party’s nomination contest.
Most of Trump’s rivals have accused the Justice Department of political bias, reflecting their fears of upsetting Trump’s core supporters, a group thought to be 30 per cent of the Republican electorate.
Trump is due to make a first appearance in the case in a Miami court on Tuesday, a day before his 77th birthday.
Calling it a “joke of an indictment”, he told the audience in Georgia that the prosecution would further bolster his support within the party, similar to how charges in New York in March over hush-money payments elevated his ranking in primary polls.
“The only good thing is it’s driven my poll numbers way up.” REUTERS
