Former President Donald Trump hitting campaign trail in Georgia, speaks out on indictment
MIAMI - Former President Donald Trump hitting the campaign trail in Georgia Saturday, publicly speaking out about his latest indictment for the first time.
"The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration weaponized department of injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country," said former President Trump.
Trump is facing 37 charges, including willful retention of defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and withholding a document or record.
When police raided Trump's Mar-A-Lago estate, they found a slew of classified documents, some of them stored in a bathroom.
"The information that's contained in those documents contained classified defense information based on the descriptions that had to do with our country's capabilities, nuclear capabilities, capabilities of foreign nations, strategies revolving around all of that," said David Weinstein, partner at Jones Walker.
Some local attorneys believe the details of the indictment could cripple his campaign.
"The language used in the indictment, the way that the story flows, is very clear to me what the prosecutors are setting up here and that this isn't just, you know, a mistake, it's not an accident. He took affirmative steps to keep them in his possession," said Vanessa Johannes, co-managing share holder at Carlton Fields Miami.
According to The New York Times, the judge assigned to this case was appointed by the former president.
"It's not unusual to see a federal judge of her capacity handling the arraignment process. The question is going to be whether or not she's going to be the presiding judge for the entire case or is she simply just going to be hearing the arraignment portion," said Melba Pearson, director of prosecution projects at Florida International University.
Trump can still run for office while facing these charges, but some believe it may be too much of a distraction for voters.
"I think it's all very controversial right now to what extent this disqualifies him as president of the United States but in terms of the American people, I think people look at this and say hey, do we really want to elect someone to be president of the United States while they're facing federal charges," said Chris Lomax, managing attorney at Lomax Legal.
Trump will arrive at the federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday. Security preparations are underway for his appearance.
