Former President Donald Trump said Monday he has not returned classified documents to the national archives because he has not had time to go through the droves of boxes he took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.
Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier asked Trump why he had “very sensitive national security defense documents” in an interview from Bedminster that aired Monday night.
Last week, Trump appeared in federal court in Miami and pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to the improper handling of classified materials, including willfully withholding national defense information and making false statements.
He told Baier that “due to the law” he had “no” concerns about a conviction in the case.
The ex-president said he didn’t just return the documents because he wanted to go through the boxes and “get out all my personal belongings.”
“And I’ve been very busy, as you can see,” Trump said. “Before I ship boxes, I have to take out all my stuff.” Those boxes were riddled with all sorts of things — golf shirts, clothes, pants, shoes — there were lots of things.”
Former President Donald Trump said Monday he has not returned classified documents to the national archives because he has not had time to go through the droves of boxes he took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago
Baier pressed Trump on whether the boxes contained a US battle plan for an attack on Iran mentioned in the indictment.
‘Not that I know of. “I don’t know,” said the former commander-in-chief. “But everything was declassified,” he argued.
“And Biden didn’t have the right to because he wasn’t president.” Mike Pence, by the way, didn’t have the right to because he wasn’t president either.”
Pence has already been taken off the hook because of the classified documents found among his belongings at his Indiana home.
Special Counsel Robert Hur has been assigned to investigate whether Biden committed any criminal offenses after secret documents from his vice presidential days were found in his DC office and his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
Both Pence and Biden voluntarily returned documents to the government, while many of the allegations Trump faces have to do with his opposition to the return of those documents.
“No, he didn’t!” Trump claimed when Baier pointed out that the current president gave his documents to the administration.
A DOJ photo that was part of the federal indictment against Trump shows boxes where classified documents were found in a restroom in Mar-a-Lago
Baier again pressed Trump if he had a secret battle plan against Iran, which he reportedly showed to a writer-publisher who was working on a book on July 21, 2021, the indictment said.
‘Ready?’ said Trump. “It wasn’t a document, okay? I had lots of paper. I had copies of newspaper articles. I had copies of magazines.’
The indictment says investigators have a recording from that day in which Trump says the document was “classified” and “as president I could have released it,” but “now I can’t.”
“When I said I couldn’t release it now, it was because I wasn’t president.” “I’ve never made a secret of it,” Trump told Baier. “Unless I’m president, I can’t release that.”
‘Bret, there was no document. That was a huge amount of papers and everything else that was about Iran and other things. And it may or may not have been stopped, but that wasn’t a document,” Trump continued. “I didn’t have a document. There was nothing to declassify. There were newspaper stories, magazine stories and articles.’
Trump called those who said they were shown a secret document “dishonest people” and “thugs.”
He also raged against the Mar-a-Lago raid in August, which saw the crates removed.
“We spoke to NARA about the return.” “Suddenly we were searched, in violation of my Fourth Amendment rights,” Trump said. “They raided my house and came and took things.”
Trump denied that any classified documents were still in his possession.
“No, I have nothing, no,” he said.
He also stressed that the evidence seized by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago may have been tampered with.
“But that’s what I’m worried about.” You took everything, didn’t you? I don’t know what they took. “They could stuff it,” Trump said. “They’ve never treated the president like that,” he lamented.