Former President Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to ever be arraigned on federal criminal charges on Tuesday.
Appearing in a Miami, Florida, federal courthouse, Trump entered a not-guilty plea, denying all wrongdoing. He faces 37 charges, including unlawfully retaining government secrets and conspiring to obstruct justice.
For the arraignment, Trump was joined by Todd Blanche, an attorney who is also handling his New York case, and Florida litigator Christopher Kise. Due to ongoing disagreements over legal strategy, Kise is not expected to play much of a role going forward. This has the former president’s advisors scrambling to hire a new Florida attorney.
Federal prosecutors allege Trump knew he was not authorized to keep classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The documents allegedly contain information on America’s military capabilities, nuclear program, and even plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.
Photographs included in the 49-page indictment show the documents in question stored in a bathroom, on a ballroom stage, and spilling onto the floor of a storage room.
Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr told Fox News that while he’s defended Trump in the past, this time, the former president is no victim.
“He was totally wrong that he had the right to have those documents. Those documents are among the most sensitive secrets the country has. They have to be in the custody of the archivist. He had no right to…retain them, and he kept them in a way at Mar-a-Lago that anyone that cares about national security, your stomach would churn at it,” Barr said.
There have been mixed messages from some of Trump’s rivals in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination. In a press conference ahead of the arraignment, Vivek Ramaswamy called the indictment “politicized,” and vowed to take action if elected.
“This is my commitment, on January 20, 2025, if I’m elected the next U.S. president, to pardon Donald J. Trump for these offenses in this federal case, and I’ve challenged, I’ve demanded that every other candidate in this race either sign this commitment to pardon on January 20, 2025, or else to explain why they are not,” Ramaswamy said.
Other candidates, however, are now wary about coming to Trump’s defense.
“If this indictment is true, if what it says is actually the case, President Trump was incredibly reckless with our national security,” said Nikki Haley during an interview with Fox News.
“This case is a serious case with serious allegations. But in America, you’re still innocent until proven guilty,” said Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) at a recent campaign event.
After the arraignment, Trump returned to his New Jersey golf club where he’s expected to make remarks and hold a fundraising event. The Trump team is once again using the former president’s legal trouble as a fundraising tool, asking supporters to make a contribution to peacefully defend their movement, from the “never-ending witch hunts.”
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