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Donald Trump’s indictment on federal charges of mishandling secret documents is a politically motivated prosecution based on de-classified files and personal “mementos,” one of the ex-president’s lawyers argued Sunday, days before his scheduled arraignment in a Florida court.
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Trump is facing 37 charges, including violations of the Espionage Act, making false statements and conspiracy regarding his mishandling of classified material — the most serious legal jeopardy the rebellious Republican has faced. His arraignment is set for Tuesday, at a federal court in Miami.
His lawyer Alina Habba argued Trump had done “nothing wrong” and would not take a plea deal to minimize fallout from the case as he seeks his party’s nomination for the 2024 election.
“He would never admit guilt, because there was nothing wrong with declassifying documents,” Habba told talk show “Fox News Sunday.”
“This is completely politically motivated. It’s election interference at its best.”
Habba also portrayed Trump’s opposition to federal agents searching and seizing materials in his Mar-a-Lago home as frustration over officials going through his personal effects.
“He has every right to have classified documents that he declassified… things that are mementos, things that he has a right to take,” she said.
“So if I’m someone with documents that I have a right to have as the president who left the White House, do I want people rummaging through my personal items? No.”
But the US attorney general under Trump one-time ally Bill Barr, said his former boss faces “solid counts” filed by the Department of Justice and that Trump is not a victim of a witch hunt, as the former leader repeatedly insists.
“The idea that the president has complete authority to declare any document personal is… ridiculous,” Barr told Fox.
If even half the indictment is true, “then he’s toast,” Barr…
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