Trump speaks publicly against his landmark impeachment. These are the key lines of his speech from Mar-a-Lago
Trump as he speaks to supporters at his Mar-a-Lago property on Tuesday. (Credit: Evan Vucci/AP)
Former President Donald Trump rejected the criminal charges he faces in New York and, before a crowd of supporters, assured from Mar-a-Lago that “the only crime I have committed is fearlessly defending our nation from those who seek to destroy it.”
Trump flew back to his Florida estate after his historic appearance in Manhattan.
“I never thought that something like this could happen in the United States. I never thought it could happen,” Trump said at the beginning of his speech.
Trump then bundled the criminal charge — which stems from a hush payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign — with the other legal and political threats he has faced, dismissing them all. .
He repeated his claim that the prosecution seeks to derail his bid for the 2024 presidential bid.
“This bogus case was filed just to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election. And it must be dropped immediately,” he said.
Throughout his remarks, Trump lashed out at the case that prosecutors presented.
“It turns out that virtually everyone who has looked at this case, including name-only Republicans and even hardline Democrats, says there is no crime and should never have been charged,” he said.
Trump also attacked the other legal threats he faces, including a Georgia investigation into election interference, a Justice Department investigation into his handling of classified documents after the presidency and a New York attorney general investigation into the Trump Organization.
The former president said, about the case that Atlanta district attorney Fani Willis is leading, that she is “doing everything in her power to impeach me for an absolutely perfect phone call, even more perfect than the one I made with the president.” from Ukraine”.
Trump also criticized the lack of attention to the case of President Joe Biden’s classified documents.
Finally, Trump condemned New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into the Trump Organization, saying she “campaigned on ‘I’ll get Trump.’ I’ll catch it. This was her campaign. He never ran for office. I’ll catch it. Her name is Letitia James,” she said.
Towards the end of his remarks, Trump again criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the charges brought against him Tuesday in New York.
“He knew there was no case. That is why last week it took a month and then he immediately retracted it and presented this ridiculous accusation, ”said the former president.
He also took strong attacks on Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the hush money case, saying: “I have a judge who hates Trump.”
