Donald Trump on Friday said federal authorities “staged” photos shared by the Justice Department in its indictment that show classified documents at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
The former president said on his Truth Social platform that the way the boxes of classified documents were found suggests the FBI set him up.
Trump made the allegation shortly after Jack Smith announced the unsealing of a 37-count indictment alleging Donald Trump mishandled classified documents in violation of the Espionage Act.
“Strange!” Trump said.
“Everything about the boxes was so neat, orderly, and clean. Did the FBI tip over the one box the way they ‘staged’ the papers on the floor during the raid of Mar-a-Lago, only to apologize after getting caught?”
Trump was hit by 37 counts including willful retention of national defense information and single counts of false statements and representations, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document, concealing a document in a federal investigation and a scheme to conceal. They come with sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
Trump in an earlier post suggests that photos showing documents released by the Justice Department exonerate him.
“The Box on the floor which was opened (who opened it?) clearly shows there was no ‘documents,’ but rather newspapers, personal pictures, etc. WITCH HUNT!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website.