Donald Trump made his first public appearance since the documents in his ‘joke of an indictment’ were unsealed – and the ex-president used his time to come out swinging against the Democratic establishment.
‘In the end, they’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you —and I’m just standing in their way and I always will,’ Trump told Republicans gathered at the Georgia GOP convention on Saturday afternoon.
The former president and 2024 candidate appeared alongside acolyte Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in his first remarks since the Department of Justice (DOJ) unveiled 37 counts against him in his classified documents case.
Trump continued to up his rhetoric against the ‘double standards’ exhibited by the DOJ for not investigating President Joe Biden for also taking documents from the White House after his time as vice president.
Trump attacked the ‘corrupt’ and ‘weaponized’ Justice Department, telling a Georgia rally: ‘Every time I fly over a blue state I get a subpoena.’
Donald Trump told a GOP convention crowd in Columbus, Georgia on Saturday afternoon that Democrats are trying to attack Republican voters through launching a myriad of legal challenges against him: ‘In the end, they’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you —and I’m just standing in their way’
The ex-President appeared at the Georgia GOP convention alongside loyal backer Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been floated as a potential running mate for Trump in his 2024 bid to take back the White House
‘We want him before a grand jury,’ Trump said in a voice mimicking Democrats who want to see him behind bars.
‘The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by Biden’s government with the corrupt and weaponized DOJ,’ he said on stage in Columbus, ‘will go down as one the worst abuses of power on record.’
‘This vicious persecution is a travesty of justice,’ Trump insisted. ‘You’re watching Joe Biden [try] to jail his leading political opponent – an opponent that is beating him by a lot in the polls – just like they do in Stalan-ist Russia, or communist China. No different.’
‘Our country has gone very bad. Just think of it – in three years.’
The former president told the cheering crowds: ‘Together we will stand up to globalists, the Marxists’ as well as ‘the communists, environmental extremists, the open border fanatics the radical left, the prosecutors and the fake news media.’
‘Our country has tears because of what’s happening,’ he lamented. ‘We have fake elections, we have no borders, we have inflation, we have – everything is just going wrong.’
‘We now have two standards of justice in our country,’ he went on.
‘The Democrat Communists who jail their opponents while they protect the murderers who prowl our cities day and night, and other brazen criminals.’
Adding that ‘no criminal is more protected than crooked Joe Biden.’
‘It’s no coincidence they indicted me the very same day it was revealed that the FBI hid explosive evidence that Joe Biden took a $5 million illegal bribe from Ukraine’ Trump alleged.
Trump walked on stage to the familiar patriotic tune of Lee Greenwood’s God Bless The USA, and spent several minutes enjoying the crowd’s cheering and waving before beginning his speech.
Rep. Greene, invited onto stage by Trump during his speech, said: ‘President Trump is beating Biden in poll after poll.’
Donald Trump made his first public appearance since the documents in his indictment were unsealed
Donald Trump left classified documents scattered across his Mar-a-Lago estate according to the stunning indictment unsealed by the Department of Justice on Friday
Crowds turned out to hear the former president speak for the first time since his indictment was unsealed on Friday
Trump fans waited to see Trump exit his plane in Georgia
Marjorie Taylor Greene arrives for Trump’s rally in Columbus, Georgia
‘Let’s get Trump back in the White House for four more years’ she told the crowd as they broke out into a chant of ‘four more years.’
Donald Trump left classified documents scattered across his bathroom and the Mar-a-Lago ballroom stage and bragged to aides about taking military secrets, according to the stunning indictment unsealed by the Department of Justice on Friday.
Extraordinary new photos revealed in the damning filing lay out claims that Trump valet Walt Nauta walked into a storage room and found ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence files on allies including the United Kingdom and Australia spilled on the floor.
During his rally, Trump said that it wasn’t like the documents were ‘smuggled’ out of the White House, noting that they were brought out onto the street and photographed before being taken to his Florida Mar-a-Lago residence.
The ex-president lamented that President Joe Biden had more boxes of materials that he should not have taken from the White House in his possession, and said the DOJ is refusing to investigate that.
‘By the way, Biden’s got 1,850 boxes,’ Trump said to the Columbus, Georgia crowd of Republicans. ‘He’s got boxes in Chinatown, D.C. He’s got boxes all over the place, he doesn’t know what the hell to do with them.’
‘And he’s fighting them on the boxes – he doesn’t want to give the boxes,’ Trump insisted, saying that he was working with the federal government on handing over the materials despite claims that he was ‘obstructing.’
There are multiple instances in the indictment where Trump suggested it would be ‘better’ if the classified documents weren’t in Mar-a-Lago and even hinted to attorneys they should remove them.
It also includes the full conversation he had with the write and publisher of ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows’ book where he admitted that he didn’t declassify documents on a military ‘plan of attack’.
Trump showed a classified map to someone who didn’t have security clearance – and admitted he shouldn’t be sharing it – and had files related to the U.S. nuclear program, the CIA and the Pentagon.
There are also extensive details of Trump being personally involved in moving documents between different parts of his sprawling Florida club where he has held hundreds of parties since he left office.
The former president has been hit with a total of 37 charges for his handling of classified documents, including 31 counts of Willful Retention of National Defense Information under the Espionage Act. He will appear in a Miami court on Tuesday afternoon and has already said he will plead not guilty.
The details laid out are far more damning than first thought, and could land Trump in serious legal peril with a potential of decades in prison if he is convicted.
