Trump Says 'Allowed' To Handle Sensitive Docs, Claims There Was No Crime In Indictment

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th June, 2023) Former US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is allowed to handle sensitive national security materials as laid out in a 38-count criminal indictment, arguing that he never committed any crimes.

"Under the Presidential Records Act, I'm allowed to do all this. Under the Clinton Socks Case, the decision is clear. There was no crime, except what the DOJ and FBI have been doing against me for years," Trump said in a statement via social media.

Earlier 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 said he had "nothing to hide" and cooperated with authorities openly and without question. Nobody told the former president that he was not permitted to look at personal records he brought to his Mar-a-Lago residence from the White House, Trump said.

Trump also questioned why Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith is not investigating current US President Joe Biden for his alleged mishandling of classified information.

"Biden moved his Boxes all over the place, including to Chinatown and up to his lawyer's office in Boston. Why isn't deranged Jack Smith looking at that?" Trump said.

Moreover, Trump dismissed newly released pictures appearing to show boxes of records at Mar-a-Lago, claiming that their spilled contents showed newspapers and personal photos.

The FBI may have tipped over one of the boxes in a manner similar to how they "staged" papers on the floor during the Mar-a-Lago raid, Trump said, adding that the boxes were "neat, orderly, and clean" beforehand.

Smith, Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and others are "Trump Haters" who are incapable of treating the former president fairly, Trump said.

Trump currently leads the pack of Republican presidential candidates for the 2024 election.