Donald Trump immediately started to fundraise off his fresh indictment on seven counts in the federal probe into his handling of classified information.
Mr Trump is set to appear in court on Tuesday at a federal courthouse in Miami. If convicted, he could face a sentence of more than a century in prison.
“This is nothing but a disgusting act of Election Interference by the ruling party to ELIMINATE its opposition and amass total control over our country,” Mr Trump wrote in a message to supporters.
“The Deep State thought they had destroyed our campaign when a Soros-backed prosecutor indicted and even ARRESTED me earlier this year,” Mr Trump added in reference to his arraignment in the New York hush-money case involving adult actor Stormy Daniels.
“But then, we SHOCKED them as our campaign grew even stronger... We broke fundraising records. 3 independent polls showed us beating Joe Biden by 7 POINTS. In fact, polls show I’m the ONLY Republican who can beat Crooked Joe,” he added. “So, after a state prosecutor failed to break us, the Deep State sharpened their attacks and unleashed a FEDERAL prosecutor to TRY and take us down.”
“But let me be as clear as possible: No matter how viciously they attack me, I will NEVER, EVER SURRENDER our country to the radical Left and I will NEVER end this presidential campaign that puts YOU first,” he said.
The 45th president has now been indicted for the second time in less than three months. The new charges stem from his alleged illegal retention of national security information.
It was Mr Trump himself who initially shared the news that he had been indicted again. He did so in several posts on his social media platform Truth Social the day after it was reported that federal prosecutors had planned to ask a grand jury to indict Mr Trump.
“The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,” Mr Trump wrote.
“I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country, and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election,” he claimed, calling himself “an innocent man”.
“This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a Country in serious and rapid Decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!” he wrote.
The seven-count indictment reportedly includes one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of making false statements, and at least one count of unlawful retention of national defence information.
Trump attorney James Trusty appeared on CNN on Thursday saying that one count in the indictment concerns a violation of Section 1512 of the US criminal code, which refers to witness tampering.
The charges against Mr Trump come a few days after his legal team met with Justice Department officials as they failed to convince the authorities not to indict their client. The investigation began last year when the National Archives and Records Administration found more than 100 documents marked classified while going through 15 boxes taken from Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida residence.
