Trump slams federal indictment as ‘distraction’ from Biden bribery allegations — and labels Barr a ‘coward’
Former President Donald Trump on Sunday branded the 37-count federal indictment he faces as nothing more than a “distraction” from the bribery allegations levied against President Biden — while also taking aim at his own ex-attorney general William Barr for not backing him over the classified documents case.
Trump, 76, in an interview with ally Roger Stone, said he doubted it was a “coincidence” that he was charged for allegedly storing hundreds of classified government files at his Mar-a-Lago estate at the same time as Republicans revealed more details regarding an FBI informant’s accusation that Biden took part in a $5 million bribery scheme involving the Ukrainian company Burisma.
“It’s to cover up a massive crime being revealed by Republicans in the House,” Trump, who denies any wrongdoing, said on the inaugural episode of “The Roger Stone Show” on WABC 770 AM.
“It’s a distraction,” he continued. “The indictment is a disgrace… And it was put out at a time when they found horrible things about the Biden family.”
The former president also described the new charges against him as “unpatriotic.”
He then slammed Barr, who said earlier on Sunday that he believed his former boss was “toast” after reading the indictment.
“The government acted responsibly. It was Donald J. Trump who acted irresponsibly,” Barr said on “Fox News Sunday.” “They’re solid counts. Even if half of this is true he’s toast.”
Trump insisted nothing could be further from the truth, labeling Barr as a “coward who didn’t do his job.”
“He was gutless. He was desperately afraid of being impeached,” Trump claimed about his former loyalist’s exit from the White House.
The GOP presidential frontrunner also labeled federal prosecutors “thugs” for alleging he mishandled the documents – including papers detailing America’s conventional and nuclear weapons programs, potential weak points in US defenses and plans to respond to a foreign attack.
Along with slamming the indictment against him, Trump urged his supporters to join a protest planned for Tuesday outside the Miami federal court building where he is set to appear for his arraignment on the charges.
“We need strength in our country. Our country is being taken away from us,” the former president said. “Everyone is afraid to do anything. They have to go out and protest peacefully.”
The first-ever federal case filed against a sitting or former president was filed on the same day GOP Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) revealed Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky allegedly told an FBI source that he paid $5 million apiece to Hunter Biden and his dad then-Vice President Joe Biden in an attempt to shake off a corruption investigation.
“There [were] two separate transactions, one that went to Joe Biden for $5 million, one that went to Hunter Biden for $5 million,” Luna told Sunday Morning Futures. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Joe Biden is guilty of bribery.”
Biden dismissed the allegations as “a bunch of malarkey.”
The 49-page indictment filed against Trump in Miami federal court Thursday includes 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of withholding a document or record, one count of corruptly concealing a document or record, one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, one count of scheming to conceal a document or record and one count of making false statements.
The feds allege Trump stored boxes containing the documents at his Palm Beach property, including in “a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room,” according to the indictment.
He was also accused of showing off the material, including during a July 2021 incident where he allegedly displayed a “plan of attack” against Iran prepared by Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
