Trump blasts federal indictment as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘baseless’ in speeches to Republicans

Former President Trump blasted his historic federal indictment as “ridiculous” and “baseless” Saturday during his first public appearances since the charges were unsealed, painting the 37 felony counts as an attack on his supporters as he tried to turn dire legal peril to political advantage.

Speaking at Republican state conventions in Georgia and North Carolina, Trump cast his indictment by the Department of Justice as an attempt to damage his chances of returning to the White House as he campaigns for a second term.

“They’ve launched one witch hunt after another to try and stop our movement, to thwart the will of the American people,” Trump said in Georgia, later telling the crowd that, “In the end, they’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you.”

The strategy is a well-worn one for Trump, who remains the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination despite his growing legal woes, which include criminal charges filed against him in March in New York. Again and again, in the face of investigation, Trump has tried to delegitimize law enforcement officials and portray himself — and his supporters — as victims, even when he faces serious charges.

Trump also vowed Saturday to remain in the race, even if he is convicted in the case.

“I’ll never leave,” he told Politico in an interview aboard his plane after his speech in Georgia. He further predicted that he wouldn’t be convicted and sidestepped questions about whether he would pardon himself if he wins a second term.

“I don’t think I’ll ever have to,” Trump said. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

The indictment unsealed Friday charges Trump with willfully defying Justice Department demands to return classified documents, enlisting aides in his efforts to hide the records and even telling his lawyers that he wanted to defy a subpoena for the materials stored at his residence.

The indictment includes allegations that he stored documents in a ballroom and bathroom at his Mar-a-Lago resort, among other places.

Trump is due to make his first federal court appearance Tuesday in Miami. He was charged alongside valet Walt Nauta, a personal aide whom prosecutors say moved boxes from a storage room to Trump’s residence for the former president to review and later lied to investigators about the movement. Nauta traveled with Trump to Georgia, appearing by his side at a Waffle House stop where Trump signed autographs, posed for photos and told supporters, “We did absolutely nothing wrong.”

Earlier Saturday, Trump was given a hero’s welcome at the party convention in Georgia, where he drew loud applause as he slammed the investigation as “a political hit job” and accused his political enemies of launching “one hoax and witch hunt after another” to prevent his reelection.

He also used his remarks to rail against President Biden and his 2016 Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, accusing them of mishandling classified information and insisting he was treated unfairly because he is a Republican. But Trump overlooked a critical difference: Only he has been accused of intentionally trying to impede investigators by not returning the classified documents.

In the Clinton probe, for instance, FBI investigators concluded that although she was extremely careless in her handling of classified emails on a private server, there was no evidence that she intended to break the law. And though the Biden investigation is ongoing, no evidence has emerged to suggest that he intentionally held on to the records or even knew that they were there, with his representatives turning over records after they were discovered and voluntarily consenting to FBI searches.

Trump also lingered on Georgia’s role in his 2020 defeat, repeating his lies that he had won the state and defending his efforts to overturn Biden’s victory, which is now the subject of an investigation by Fulton County Dist. Atty. Fani Willis. She has suggested that any indictments would probably come in August.

At the heart of the investigation is a recorded phone conversation in which Trump urges Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” — just enough to overtake Biden and overturn Trump’s narrow loss in the state.

Despite the latest criminal charges, attendees cheered him on in Georgia and North Carolina.

The indictment arrives as Trump continues to dominate the primary race. Other candidates have largely attacked the Justice Department — rather than Trump — for the investigation. But the indictment’s breadth of allegations and scope could make it harder for Republicans to rail against these charges compared with an earlier New York criminal case that many legal analysts had derided as weak.

Among the various investigations Trump has faced, the documents case has long been considered the most perilous threat and the one most ripe for prosecution. But Trump’s continued popularity among Republican voters is evident in how gingerly his primary rivals have treated the federal indictment.

Mike Pence, whose appearance in North Carolina marked the first shared venue with his former boss since the ex-vice president announced his own campaign this past week, condemned the “politicization” of the Justice Department and urged Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland “to stop hiding behind the special counsel and stand before the American people” to explain the basis for the federal investigation into Trump.

In an interview with the Associated Press after his speech, Pence said he had read the indictment but repeatedly declined to share his personal reaction to its contents — including the photographs of boxes with classified information stacked in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom and on a ballroom stage — or to criticize Trump.

“The very nature of a grand jury is that there is no defense presented,” Pence said. “That’s why I said today I’m going to urge patience, encourage people to be prayerful for the former president, but also for all those in authority and for the country going forward.”

At the North Carolina GOP gathering Friday night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s leading GOP rival, didn’t mention Trump by name but compared his situation to that of Clinton.

“Is there a different standard for a Democratic secretary of State versus a former Republican president?” DeSantis asked. “I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country. … At the end of the day, we will once and for all end the weaponization of government under my administration.”

Among the declared Republican contenders, only former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has explicitly called for Trump to end his candidacy. Hutchinson told reporters in Georgia that the Republican Party “should not lose its soul” in defending Trump and said the evidence so far suggested that the former president treated national secrets “like entertainment tools.”