Former President Donald Trump strongly asserted that the security tapes at his Mar-a-Lago club and residence in Florida were not deleted; instead, he claimed they were voluntarily handed over to Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, also refuted any tape deletions during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” emphasizing Trump’s cooperation.
Trump, currently the GOP 2024 presidential front-runner, had previously denied any wrongdoing in an interview with conservative radio host John Fredericks.
A superseding indictment was made public after Trump’s attorneys met with DOJ investigators, with the charges filed only in Florida. The indictment alleges that Trump asked for Mar-a-Lago footage to be deleted after investigators collected classified documents in 2022.
The Trump campaign dismissed the charges as a desperate attempt by the Biden Crime Family and the Department of Justice to harass the former president and those around him.
The indictment also includes an additional count of willfully retaining national defense information related to a document shown during a 2021 interview at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club.
Prosecutors describe the document as a Pentagon plan of attack, reportedly concerning Iran, according to Mark Meadows’ subsequent book.