Speaking in a Wednesday interview with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, former President Donald Trump spoke about how he plans to handle the federal case regarding his alleged handling of classified information at Mar-a-Lago, telling Hewitt that he “absolutely” plans to testify.
As background, former President Trump will be headed to trial in May of 2024 over thirty-seven charges brought against him in federal court over his handling and storage of more than 300,000 classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home. The former president has maintained that he is not guilty because he had the right to declassify those documents under the Presidential Records Act, meaning they were not classified and he was allowed to keep them at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s vote to testify when Hewitt pressed Trump on what he characterized as the more dangerous charge Trump is facing, asking, “even if you are successful on the motion to dismiss on the documents, there’s still the obstruction charge. I always think that’s the most dangerous charge going. Did you direct anyone to move the boxes after the subpoena issued?”
Former President Trump, in response, blasted the sort of people who accuse him of crimes, arguing that the obstruction charges are fake, as he argued the Russia claims were as well. He said, “Now let me tell you about the obstruction charges. Same thing as they did with Russia, Russia, Russia. They create a fake case. You see, all this is, is Russia, Russia, Russia all over again. I know many of them, and I’ve won every time. This is the great thing that they do. If they would set their mind to running the country like they cheat, they’d actually do a good job. But they do the worst job, because their policies are so bad and everything else. If you look at what they do is they create a fake crime, like the fake dossier. It was all fake. Everything was fake. I had the embarrassment of the things that were said, and then it turned out to be fake. And the FBI was willing to pay a million dollars if the guy would confirm it, and he wouldn’t confirm it. He couldn’t. So they create a fake crime, and then you fight that crime, and you fight it hard. And you fight it legit, but you fight it. You have no choice.”
Continuing, Trump blasted Jack Smith for what he did in the IRS case, saying, “These guys like Adam Schiff get on television with his smug, stupid face, and he makes it sound like Russia, Russia, Russia. You fight it really hard, and you fight it effectively, and then they say he obstructed justice. So they create a fake crime, that’s what they’re doing again. They created all this fake stuff. They put this prosecutor that’s been overturned all the time because of his aggression, I call him Deranged Jack Smith. That’s what he is. He’s deranged. And look at his record. Look at what he did with Bob McDonnell. Look at his record what happened to him. He’s been overturned by the United States Supreme Court unanimously, etc. He was in charge of the Lois Lerner. You cannot be a fan of the Lois Lerner case. He was in charge of the Lois Lerner/IRS case. And one of the greatest embarrassments in the history of our country, because he goes too far. What happens, and because he is really, I believe there’s something wrong with him, okay? I believe he’s sick. But let me just tell you, they create a fake case, and then they say he obstructed. He obstructed. So they no longer have a case. They say he’s fighting it. He was so tough, and he obstructed. These people are sick, and they’re destroying our country.”
Hewitt then circled back to the topic of the boxes and who it was who moved them and at whose direction, saying, “So, but did you direct anyone to move the boxes, Mr. President? Did you tell anyone to move the boxes?”
Former President Trump, in response, said, “I don’t talk about anything. You know why? Because I’m allowed to do whatever I want. I come under the Presidential Records Act. I’m not telling you. You know, every time I talk to you, oh, I have a breaking story. You don’t have any story. I come under the Presidential Records Act. I’m allowed to do everything I did. What is not the case is Biden. Biden didn’t come under it, because he was the vice president. And by the way, Mike Pence didn’t come under it, and he had very serious classified documents, and he didn’t come under, and nobody seems to be bothered by that. But I am totally protected by the Presidential Records Act.”
Later on, Hewitt asked if Trump would testify in the trial. He asked, “So if you have to go to trial, will you testify in your own defense?” Trump didn’t bat an eye, telling him, “Oh, yes, absolutely.”
Hewitt asked again: “You’ll take the stand?” Trump maintained that he plans to fight it out in person, saying, “That, I would do. That, I look forward to, because that’s just like Russia, Russia, Russia. That’s all the fake information from Russia, Russia, Russia. Remember when the dossier came out and everyone said oh, that’s so terrible, that’s so terrible, and then it turned out to be it was a political report put out by Hillary Clinton and the DNC. They paid millions for it. They gave it to Christopher Steele. They paid millions and millions of dollars for it, and it was all fake. It was all fake.“
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