Trump Responds After Special Counsel Jack Smith Hits Him with New Charges, Says It's All Because He's 'Way Up in the General Election'
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday said the latest charges against him are “election interference at the highest level.”
On Thursday, Department of Justice special prosecutor Jack Smith added three counts to the federal indictment against Trump, according to The New York Times.
The updated indictment charged the former president with attempting to “alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal evidence” and inducing someone else to do so in relation to allegations he sought to have security camera footage at his Mar-A-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, deleted. The footage allegedly showed employees moving boxes that contained classified documents.
He also faces a new count under the Espionage Act concerning a highly publicized episode in which he allegedly showed several people at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club a classified document.
The former president told Fox News that “the charges are ridiculous, and they know it better than anyone.”
Trump, who is leading in the race for the Republican nomination for president, said the charges are designed to skew the 2024 presidential election.
“This is prosecutorial misconduct used at a level never seen before,” he said. “If I weren’t leading Biden by a lot in numerous polls, and wasn’t going to be the Republican nominee, it wouldn’t be happening. It wouldn’t be happening.”
“But I am way up as a Republican and way up in the general election and this is what you get,” the former president added.
“They’re harassing my company, they’re harassing my family and by far, least importantly of all, they’re harassing me,” he said.
Trump was indicted June 8 on 37 felony counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
On July 18, the former president indicated he expects to be indicted by Smith concerning the events of Jan. 6. 2021, when a protest called to demonstrate against election misconduct morphed into the Capitol incursion.
“Our country is suffering from DOJ abuse. Hopefully the Republican Party will do something about it,” Trump said Thursday.
The spectacle of charges being piled on the GOP front-runner — amid allegations that the investigation of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, was hobbled by political influence — led some Republicans to lash out.
The DOJ’s decision to pursue additional charges against President Trump is further evidence of the politicization of our nation’s top prosecutorial agency. Amid AG Garland’s dismissal of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden & Hillary Clinton, Tennesseans are tired of two tiers of justice.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 27, 2023
Let me get this straight:
Biden’s DOJ targets Trump again the same week he’s up in the polls & an IRS whistleblower is testifying that Biden’s DOJ obstructed an IRS investigation into Hunter.
Another clear case of the weaponization of the DOJ against Biden’s political opponent. pic.twitter.com/bfRo2LW9ey
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) July 18, 2023
My full statement on the continued witch hunt by Biden’s corrupt DOJ against President Trump: pic.twitter.com/ADnVxMVKVs
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) July 27, 2023
“The American people understand that Joe Biden and his administration are engulfed in one of the biggest political corruption scandals of all time,” Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York posted on social media.
“It is no coincidence that the day after a federal judge throws out Hunter Biden’s corrupt, sweetheart plea bargain, Biden’s weaponized [Department of Justice] continues its witch hunt against President Trump. Our Republic is in peril, our justice system is broken,” Stefanik said.
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