By Aaron Miller-
A charged up Donald Trump was cheered as he told a crowd of supporters at his golf resort in New Jersey that his indictments were a “corrupt” and “political pursuit” designed to destroy him.
Trump changed mood gears from the solemn courtroom to a festive restaurant, stopping on his way out of Miami at Versailles, an iconic Cuban spot in the city’s Little Havana neighborhood where supporters serenaded Trump, who turns 77 on Wednesday, with “Happy Birthday.”
His defiant claims came after his dramatic arrest that saw him charged in response to the accusation by federal prosecutors who have accused him of wilfully withholding classified documents and obstructing justice, charging him with 37 federal counts including 31 violations of the Espionage Act. It was a historic affair destined to lead to conspiratorial claims from the very controversial former commander in chief of the greatest country in the world.
The former president was not required to surrender a passport, and prosecutors told the court was not considered a flight risk — the magistrate judge presiding over the arraignment directed Trump to not discuss the case with certain witnesses.
The former U.S president pleaded not guilty to all charges, and was released on bond on the condition that he would not discuss the case with a list of witnesses.
In New Jersey, he maintained the defiant message at previous campaign events, including over the weekend after the indictment was unsealed, accusing Biden of orchestrating the federal charges against him, calling them a “political persecution”.
It is unclear why the polarising former president did not turn over all the classified documents when the government came calling? Why did he dig in and fight investigators, when co-operation might have ended the investigation?
Trump, who is also being investigated for election interference said Biden “will forever be remembered as not only the most corrupt president in the history of our country, but perhaps even more importantly, the president who together with a band of his closest thugs, misfits and Marxists tried to destroy American democracy”.
Trump also called Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought federal charges against him, “deranged” and a “thug”, as he ignorantly described the classified papers h is accused of keeping as his own, seemingly ignoring the Presidential Records Act, which stipulates that all official documents belong to the federal government.
On top of his many troubles, a grand jury in Manhattan last month voted to indict Trump and local prosecutors brought criminal charges over hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. Meanwhile Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton county, Georgia, is investigating whether he and his allies illegally meddled in the 2020 elections in the state, and is weighing criminal charges.
“I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America Joe Biden,” Trump promised cheering supporters nonetheless. “I will totally obliterate the deep state.”
The event Tuesday also served as a fundraiser. The Trump campaign told Politico that it expects to raise $2m at Bedminster. Immediately after his arraignment, a blast to supporters advertised “I stand with Trump” T-shirts, free with a $47 donation, “show the Deep State and the Left that there’s not an attack on the face of this planet that can stop this movement”.