Former US president Donald Trump said Friday he would not end his run for the White House if he were convicted and sentenced in any of the criminal investigations mounting against him.
The 77-year-old Republican frontrunner was asked about his reaction to the federal and state charges he faces as he bids for a second term in 2024, a day after federal prosecutors added three felony counts to the indictment against him over his handling of classified documents.
Asked by right wing radio host John Fredericks if being sentenced would stop his campaign, he quickly responded: “Not at all. There’s nothing in the Constitution to say that it could.”
“And even the radical left crazies are saying not at all, that wouldn’t stop (me) — and it wouldn’t stop me either. These people are sick. What they are doing is absolutely horrible,” he added.
Trump said previous presidents including Barack Obama and George W. Bush “took documents,” suggesting falsely that his predecessors had engaged in conduct similar to the alleged crimes for which he has been charged.
“Nobody has ever gone through this. This is crazy,” he added, mischaracterizing the law and a previous civil dispute over presidential documents to argue that he had done nothing wrong.
The twice-impeached former president was first indicted in the classified documents case last month, accused of endangering national security by holding on to top secret nuclear and defense information after leaving the White House.
Former President Donald Trump faced new charges in a case accusing him of illegally possessing classified documents, with prosecutors alleging that he asked a staffer to delete camera footage at his Florida estate in an effort to obstruct a federal investigation into the records.
The indictment includes new counts of obstruction and willful retention of national defense information, adding fresh detail to an indictment issued last month against Trump and a close aide. The Florida charges came as a surprise at a time of escalating anticipation of a possible additional indictment in Washington over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The latest allegations also make clear the vast, and still not fully known, scope of legal exposure faced by Trump as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024 while fending off criminal cases in multiple cities.
The updated indictment from special counsel Jack Smith centers on surveillance footage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, evidence that has long been vital to the case. Trump is alleged to have asked for the footage to be deleted after FBI and Justice Department investigators visited in June 2022 to collect classified documents he took with him after leaving the White House. —AFP
