Donald Trump chose to give a political speech after being arraigned on federal charges and some of the statements that he made will likely be used against him at trial.
There were two relevant moments that were bad for Trump’s legal defense:
Trump called the government documents his presidential papers:
Trump calls the government documents that he stole his presidential papers, “Threatening me with 400 years in prison for possessing my own presidential papers, which just about every other president has done.” pic.twitter.com/ECkz3V91vF
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) June 14, 2023
Trump said:
Charging a former president of the United States under the Espionage Act of 1917 It wasn’t meant for this. An act for a crime so heinous that only the death penalty would do and threatening me with 400 years in prison for possessing my own presidential papers, which just about every other president has done. Is one of the most outrageous and vicious legal theories ever put forward in an American court of law. The Espionage Act. Has been used to go after traitors and spies. It has nothing to do with a former president, legally keeping his own documents as president, a law that applies to this case is not the Espionage Act, but very simply the Presidential Records Act.
None of what Trump said is true or correct. He doesn’t seem to know what the Presidential Records Act is, or that it applies to sitting presidents, and the legal requirement to preserve all documents while in office. Trump also argued that the government documents are his personal presidential papers, which they are not. Classified documents are not presidential papers.
Trump also claimed that the DOJ staged the photographic evidence:
Trump claims the DOJ photographic evidence was staged. pic.twitter.com/iAc2yEUzBK
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) June 14, 2023
If Trump’s lawyers are going to argue in court that the physical evidence against him was staged, Judge Cannon might buy it, but an appeals court won’t. Trump also made lots of what about claims involving Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, with the main point being that Biden was the real corrupt person here, not Donald Trump, which isn’t a compelling argument when the scoreboard reads Trump 71 felony charges Biden 0.
The Bedminster fiasco was the sort of speech that Trump would give in the past, and it would be chalked up to his lying himself into a state of delusion, but just like how he defamed E. Jean Carroll on CNN after losing a defamation lawsuit, Trump still hasn’t realized that what he says can and will be used against him.
Each time Trump speaks, he takes another step closer to federal prison.