Part of the charges in Donald Trump’s Florida indictment — the classified documents case — was a charge stating that Trump had asked a staffer to hide both documents and security footage from his Florida resort home.
The two employees working with Trump as he asked the staffer to help, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, have both also been charged. Trump, Nauta, and De Oliveira have all pleaded not guilty.
The topic came up again during Trump’s sit-down interview with Kristin Welker, the new host of NBC’s Meet The Press.
Welker addressed Trump: “I want to ask you about the case related to Mar-a-Lago. A new charge suggests you asked a staffer to delete security camera footage so it wouldn’t get into the hands of investigators.”
Trump, confident in his ability to sell the story, immediately responded “That’s false.”
“Look, It’s a fake charge by this deranged lunatic prosecutor who lost in the Supreme Court nine to nothing, and he tried to destroy lots of lives. He’s a lunatic. So it’s a fake charge.
But more importantly, the tapes weren’t deleted. In other words, there was nothing done to them. And, they were my tapes. I could have fought them. I didn’t even have to give them the tapes, I don’t think. I think I would have won in court. When they asked for the tapes, I said, ‘Sure.’ They’re my tapes. I could have fought them. I didn’t even have to give them. Just so you understand, though, we didn’t delete anything. Nothing was deleted.”
Now, that entire statement is unhinged, but maybe the part that sticks out the most is Trump’s continued use of the words “my” and “mine.” He has long been under the impression — or is perhaps just trying to assert — that he had some kind of ownership over the documents and tapes that were subpoenaed by the Justice Department.
Let me tell you, Donnie: Once you get that subpoena, you turn everything over. Stop saying “mine.” At the VERY least, all of the documents and presidential records belong to the National Archives. That’s where they should have been if Trump hadn’t illegally taken them back to his house after he left office.
Simply being in possession of anything classified once you’re out of the White House as an EX-President is breaking the law. Trump can try and interpret it however he likes, but the law is the law, and it’s pretty explicit.
.@kwelkernbc [1] discusses her interview with a "defiant" Donald Trump, who calls the classified documents charges against him "false" and "fake," and claims he would testify to that fact under oath. pic.twitter.com/fSSRlvmnQl [2]
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 15, 2023 [3]