Former US president Donald Trump has used his first public appearance since federal indictment charges against him were unsealed, to paint the 37 felony counts as an attack on his supporters.
Speaking at a Republican state convention in Georgia, Trump cast his indictment by the Department of Justice as an attempt to damage his chances of returning to the White House 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 alleged, 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 mounting legal woes, which also include criminal charges filed against him in March in New York. Again and again, in the face of investigation, Trump has tried to delegitimise law enforcement officials and portray himself — and his supporters — as victims.
Trump also vowed Saturday to remain in the race, even if he is convicted in the case.
The indictment unsealed on 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.
It 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 on Tuesday in Miami. A personal aide, Walt Nauta, has also been charged.
On 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”.
“The ridiculous and baseless indictment by the Biden administration’s weaponised Department of Injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country,” he said.
Trump also lingered on Georgia’s role in his 2020 defeat, repeating his lies that he had won the state and defending his efforts, now under investigation, to overturn the victory of President Joe Biden.
At the heart of that investigation is a recorded phone conversation in which Trump urges Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” — just enough to overtake Biden and overturn Trump’s narrow loss in the state.
Trump’s continued popularity among Republican voters is evident in how gingerly his primary rivals have treated the federal indictment.
Ex Vice-president Mike Pence condemned the “politicisation” of the Justice Department and urged Attorney General 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.
At a North Carolina party function on Friday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, didn’t mention Trump by name but compared his situation to that of Hilary Clinton, who was accused in 2016 of mishandling classified information.
“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 weaponisation of government under my administration.”
Among the declared Republican contenders, only Arkansas Governor 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 the former president treated national secrets “like entertainment tools.”
Australian Associated Press