Trump calls classified documents prosecution 'travesty of justice'

Former President Trump said the US Justice Department's prosecution of him over classified documents was a "farce", accusing Mr. Biden of "weaponizing" the agency.

"The ridiculous, baseless indictment of me by the weaponized, non-justice department of the Joe Biden administration will be the worst abuse of power in American history," former President Donald Trump said at a Republican event in Georgia on June 10. "This vile prosecution is a travesty of justice."

Mr. Trump spoke a day after the US Department of Justice released a 49-page indictment, which includes 37 charges related to the investigation into Mr. Trump illegally keeping classified documents at his private residence. If convicted under the US Intelligence Act, the former president will face a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

The former US president said that Biden's successor, a Democrat, had fabricated criminal charges to undermine his opponent in the 2024 election, distracting federal and congressional investigations from the son of the White House owner.

Trump described his re-election campaign as part of a “great struggle” to defeat “evil forces” that he said posed a greater threat to the United States than foreign adversaries. He told Politico on the same day that he would continue to run even if convicted. Trump is scheduled to appear in court in Miami, Florida, on June 13, a day before his 77th birthday.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a Republican event in Columbus, Georgia on June 10. Photo: AFP — Former President Donald Trump speaks at a Republican event in Columbus, Georgia on June 10. Photo: *AFP*

The US Justice Department has previously asserted that all of its investigative decisions are not related to partisan politics . President Biden has also said he will not participate in investigations of Mr. Trump.

In August 2022, investigators seized about 13,000 documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, including both classified and top secret documents. The Presidential Records Act requires that presidential and vice presidential documents be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) at the end of their terms, for safekeeping and protection.

Former President Trump wants prosecutors to investigate President Biden. Biden’s lawyers discovered the first batch of classified documents in November 2022 in the Washington, D.C., office he used from mid-2017 as former vice president until the start of his 2020 campaign, and the family garage in Wilmington, Delaware.

But legal experts say the two cases are different. The indictment alleges that Trump tried to obstruct NARA when it announced the revocation. In Biden’s case, lawyers notified NARA and the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. The Justice Department has not said whether it will prosecute Biden.

Mr. Trump became the first former US president to be indicted in late March, in connection with allegations of falsifying business records to pay to suppress information that was unfavorable to the 2016 presidential election. A New York judge said Mr. Trump would be tried in March 2024. This is a state-level prosecution, while the case of keeping classified documents is handled at the federal level.

Trump is also facing investigations into his role in the Capitol riots in January 2021 and his efforts to change the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Despite the legal scandals, Trump remains the leading candidate for the Republican Party.