In a tense Fox News interview on Monday, former President Donald Trump offered a confusing defense in response to his recent indictment, touting his right to keep sensitive documents and effectively admitting that he held onto them even after he was supposed to return them. Trump’s interview follows a 37-count indictment that’s centered on his decision to take classified national security documents after leaving the White House, for which he was arraigned in court in Miami last week.
“I have every right to have those boxes,” Trump told Fox News host Bret Baier as part of their conversation, while claiming that these documents were “declassified,” a point the indictment rebuts. “This is purely a Presidential Records Act. This is not a criminal thing.”
Trump’s statements, many of which were meandering and difficult to follow, both provided a muddled defense, and may have offered fodder to reinforce some of the charges against him. By acknowledging that he had the documents in his possession and that he had reasons for not returning them promptly, Trump’s statements corroborated allegations he’s charged with regarding mishandling these materials.
Donald Trump said he did not hand over government records to federal officials when asked because he was too busy to sift through the contents of the boxes.
The comments are an admission that he did not move to satisfy the federal government’s demands.https://t.co/86Z0vR1Umh
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) June 20, 2023
Trump also clashed repeatedly with Baier on other subjects, as he was pressed regarding repeated falsehoods about the 2020 election results and critiques from members of his former administration. Below are four takeaways from their contentious conversation, which addressed the documents case as well as Trump’s plans for a potential second term.
1) Trump explained why he didn’t hand documents over to National Archives
At one point, Baier asks Trump directly why he…
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