NEWS WEEK
An attorney for Donald Trump has said she is “embarrassed to be a lawyer” amid reports the former president has been indicted for retaining classified documents and obstructing the federal attempt to retrieve them.
Alina Habba hit out at the apparent “dual system of justice” in the U.S. which she said was akin to “Russia, Third World stuff” after Trump announced that he has been indicted over the classified documents case on Truth Social, adding “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”
Trump, who is currently the favorite to clinch the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, said that he has been summoned to appear at the federal courthouse in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, June 13 as part of the indictment.
Speaking to Fox News‘ Jesse Watters, Habba accused Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s classified documents investigation of being politically motivated.
“There is a coordinated dance that is becoming obvious to the American people because they are smart,” Habba said. “What they do is they say, ‘look at this shiny ball, let’s go after Trump. Whatever you hear about the Bidens, don’t worry about it. Trump, Trump, Trump.’ It is called Trump derangement syndrome, and now it’s becoming so sick.
“I’m embarrassed to be a lawyer at this moment. Honestly, I am ashamed,” Habba added. “I am ashamed to be a lawyer. I’m ashamed that this is the state of our country and it is so obvious that there’s this dual system of justice. This is selective prosecution, selective persecution, it is Russia, Third World stuff, and it should not be happening.”
The precise details of the indictment against Trump are still unknown as it is under seal, but several media outlets, citing unnamed sources, have said the former president faces at least seven federal charges.
Prosecutors have been investigating whether Trump illegally retained classified documents since the FBI seized around 100 sensitive materials, including those marked top secret, from his Mar-a-Lago resort in August 2022.
A subpoena in May 2022 required Trump to hand back all classified documents to the National Archives, as required once a president leaves office, after he previously handed over 15 boxes of records in January 2022.
In June 2022, the FBI arranged to attend Mar-a-Lago to retrieve the sought-after materials during the course of which Trump’s legal team are alleged to have “explicitly prohibited” federal agents from looking inside a storage room at the resort. Trump’s lawyers Evan Corcoran and Christina Babb then wrote and signed a letter to prosecutors giving an assurance that all classified materials had been returned.
In August 2022 the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and seized more than 100 classified and top secret documents, including some found in the storage room. Trump is also alleged to have ordered workers at his Mar-a-Lago resort to move boxes of documents into the storage room prior to the FBI’s first visit in June.
Trump has long denied any wrongdoing in connection to the classified documents case, including claiming that he had declassified all the materials in question before he left the White House in January 2021. Trump’s own lawyers have never made this argument in any official court filing as part of the investigation.
“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,” Trump posted on Truth Social while announcing he has been indicted.
During her Fox News appearance, Habba suggested that it is a “sick world” in which Trump is to be charged over actions she said other presidents and non-presidents have engaged in.
In January 2022, classified documents from the Barack Obama era were found at President Joe Biden’s private home in Wilmington, Delaware, as well as at a think tank office Biden previously used in Washington D.C.
Biden is not under criminal investigation over his handling of the classified documents and has cooperated with authorities
Lawyers for former Vice President Mike Pence also found a “small number of documents” at his Indiana home, which prosecutors recently confirmed he will not face charges over after also fully co-operating.
In comparison, Trump is accused of ignoring a federal subpoena to hand over all the classified materials that were removed from the White House, then obstructing the federal attempt to retrieve them.
Habba described how “we had recordings in sock drawers” in reference to where former president Bill Clinton kept presidential documents while in office.
While Clinton did, in fact, keep recordings he later used to write his autobiography in his sock drawer at the White House, none of them were classified or top secret.
Smith’s office has been contacted for comment.
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