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If convicted on all seven counts brought against him by the US Department of Justice, which range from illegally keeping classified documents after leaving the White House to making false statements and conspiracy to obstruct justice, the 76-year-old former president faces up to 100 years in prison. the prison.
Trump immediately protested his innocence, calling the accusations a “checkbox trick”, referring to accusations that he illegally transported classified materials to his Mar-a-Lago home. The former president insists that he declassified the material, not by any official decree, but simply by saying so, a defense rejected by the Justice Department.
He was summoned to appear in federal court in Miami at 3 p.m. Tuesday and is expected to comply. He will appear before a judge – Eileen Cannon – appointed by Trump himself.
“I never thought such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who has received far more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country, and is currently leading, by far, all candidates, both Democrats and Republicans, in the polls of 2024 Presidential electionTrump lamented on his social media platform, adding in all caps: “I am an innocent man! ”
The stunning developments, revealed for the first time by Trump himself, have shaken up US politics and have been met with suspicion, especially by the Republican Party, which has accused the White House of arming the law enforcement system. Presidential historians have called it a “seismic moment” in the country’s history.
The GOP is also beginning to close ranks behind the former president despite the internecine battle for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Following Trump in the race, his main rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, declared that “arming federal law enforcement is a mortal threat to a free society.”
Many Republican lawmakers rallied fiercely behind Trump, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy calling it a “black day for America” ​​and vowing that House Republicans “will hold this brazen arming of power to account.”
Former Cabinet member Nikki Haley, who is also running for the Republican nomination, tweeted, “This is not the way justice should be done in our country. The American people are weary of prosecution excesses, double standards, and vendetta politics. It’s time to get over it.” Drama and endless distractions.
A rare exception was Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, a longtime Trump critic, who said Trump “made these charges on himself not only by taking classified documents, but by refusing to return them once given several opportunities to do so.”
Trump’s Vice President Mike Pence, who is also seeking the 2023 Republican nomination, also said the indictment would be “terribly divisive” for the country, but he hoped “the American people will see in this case that he will meet the high standards necessary to justify a federal indictment.” Unprecedented for a former President of the United States.”
Trump himself has turned against President Biden, accusing him of taking classified material as well, though legal experts say there are no similarities between the two.
02:45
I didn’t think that was possible…
“The corrupt Biden administration told my lawyers that I was charged, apparently for a fund hoax, even though Joe Biden has 1,850 funds at the University of Delaware, additional funds in D.C.’s Chinatown, with more funds at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents strewn all over. His garage floor is where he parks his Corvette, which is “secured” only by a thin garage door, and is open most of the time,” he wrote on the Truth Social platform.
On Friday morning, it emerged that the Justice Department had based its case in part on Trump himself admitting in recordings obtained by him that he had taken classified materials, some of them related to a possible attack on Iran, from the White House.
ABC News reported that Trump faces four separate charges each with a potential sentence of 20 years in prison: conspiracy to obstruct justice; withholding a document or record; Corruptly hide a document or record; and document concealment in a federal investigation. There is another charge, which carries a 10-year prison sentence: willful retention of national defense information.
He watches Historic scandal: Ex-President Trump faces horrific criminal charges – will he serve 100 years in prison?
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