Documents were 'de-classified' or mementosm says Trump lawyer
2 min read 11 Jun 2023, 09:44 PM ISTFormer president Donald Trump would never admit guilt, because there was nothing wrong with declassifying documents, one of his lawyers Alina Habba said
PremiumFormer US president Donald Trump is set to appear in a federal court in Miami on Tuesday to make his initial appearance on the charges, which include the willful retention of highly sensitive national defense records under the Espionage Act, making false statements, conspiracy and concealment of highly sensitive classified materials.
The former president had done "nothing wrong" and would not take a plea deal to minimize fallout from the case as he seeks his party's nomination for the 2024 election, one of his lawyers, Alina Habba, said.
Hinting at ex-president's defense strategy in the case the lawyers said, “The files were de-classified or personal mementos from his time in office and that the accusations are politically motivated."
"He would never admit guilt, because there was nothing wrong with declassifying documents," Habba told the talk show "Fox News Sunday."
"This is completely politically motivated. It's election interference at its best."
"He has every right to have classified documents that he declassified... things that are mementos, things that he has a right to take.
"So if I'm someone with documents that I have a right to have as the president who left the White House, do I want people rummaging through my personal items? No," she added.
Meanwhile, William Barr , former US Attorney General from February of 2019 through December of 2020, defended Special Counsel Jack Smith's 37-count indictment against Trump, saying if the allegations that the former president willfully retained hundreds of highly classified documents are proven true, then "he's toast."
"I was shocked by the degree of sensitivity of these documents and how many there were, ... and I think the counts under the Espionage Act that he willfully retained those documents are solid counts," Barr, who served under Trump, told "Fox News Sunday."
"The idea that the president has complete authority to declare any document personal is... ridiculous," Barr said.
If even half the indictment is true, "then he's toast," Barr added. "It's very, very damning."
The charges, brought by the Department of Justice Special Counsel Smith, each carry up to 20 years in prison.
Of the 37 counts against Trump, 31 of them relate to secret and top secret classified documents that he kept after leaving the White House in early 2021.
Trump has previously defended his retention of classified records, claiming without evidence he declassified them while in office - a defense that his allies have also repeated.
"This is secret information... See as president I could have declassified it," Trump said on the recording, according to the indictment. "Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret."
"I go on the president's word that he said he did," US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan told CNN's "State of the Union" program on Sunday when asked if he had any evidence to back up Trump's claim.
The indictment alleges that Trump stored the documents in a haphazard manner at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, refused to give them back to the government, and tried to hide them from the FBI and even his own attorney after a grand jury issued him a subpoena demanding that he turn over all records bearing classified markings.