Former US president Donald Trump dismissed his indictment for mishandling government secrets as a "heinous abuse of power" as he addressed supporters after pleading not guilty to dozens of criminal felony counts.
"Today we witnessed the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country. Very sad thing to watch," Trump said after returning from his arraignment hearing in Miami to his golf course in Bedminster in New Jersey.
"This is called election interference. It's political persecution," he added.
Trump blasted the "scam indictment by the corrupt Biden administration" and said: "I had absolute declassification authority as president." Before wrapping up, Trump promised the crowd he will "get justice when he is re-elected president in 2024." "And I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden," Trump said.
Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to federal criminal charges that he unlawfully kept national-security documents when he left office. He was allowed to leave court without conditions or travel restrictions and no cash bond was required.
The 37-count indictment alleges Trump lied to officials who tried to get the records back. Those records included information about the secretive US nuclear program and potential vulnerabilities in the event of an attack, the indictment said.
Source: Qatar News Agency