Hungary's Prime Minister Throws Support Behind Trump Amid New Indictment

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th June, 2023) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban publicly backed former US President Donald Trump, who faces 37 charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents, calling on him to "never give up."

On Friday, an indictment was unsealed charging Trump and a personal aide with 38 total criminal counts, including for willful retention of national defense information and making false statements. Trump is set to appear at a Federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday for proceedings.

"Your fight is a good fight ... Never give up!" Orban tweeted on Friday to his 164,600 followers, tagging Trump's Twitter handle.

Trump denies the accusations against him, claiming that his actions were permissible under the Presidential Records Act. The ex-president has also criticized prosecutors for not investigating current US President Joe Biden's alleged mishandling of classified documents with the same rigor.

The indictment comes as Trump leads the pack of Republican Party presidential candidates for the 2024 election, prompting criticism of the case even among fellow Primary contenders.

In April, Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in connection with his alleged involvement in a $130,000 hush money payment and subsequent cover-up involving a purported affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges, which prosecutors elevated from misdemeanors to felonies, alleging that the fraud was linked to violations of election and tax laws.

Back then, Orban also threw his support behind Trump before the latter appeared in court in New York in the hush money case. The prime minister posted a photo with Trump taken in August 2022 at the former US president's estate in Bedminster, New Jersey, before Orban's speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas at Trump's invitation.