Former President Donald Trump once again sought to portray the FBI raid at his Mar-a-Lago residence as part of a plot against him, making a series of misleading and contradicting claims before a crowd of supporters at a Sunday rally in Arizona.
In his speech, Trump falsely claimed that other presidents, including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush, had mishandled classified information yet faced no legal consequences.
Scores of government records were recovered in the raid. But Trump claimed federal agents had “planted documents” while also declaring that the documents “are mine.”
“I had a small number of boxes in storage. There is no crime. They should give me immediately back everything they have taken from me because it’s mine,” Trump said.
“They plant documents. Let’s see, is there a book on nuclear destruction or building of a nuclear weapon, let’s put that book in with Trump,” the former president told supporters.
In a court filing, the Department of Justice alleges that Trump illegally took government records, including highly classified information, storing them in unsecured locations at Mar-a-Lago after he left office.
Trump’s lawyers have offered no evidence to back his claim that evidence was planted in the raid.
Watch Trump’s speech below:
Trump: They plant documents. Let’s see, is there a book on nuclear destruction or building of a nuclear weapon, let’s put that book in with Trump pic.twitter.com/zLOBbPs4bx
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 10, 2022