Donald Trump Says He’s ‘Indicting You’

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Former President Donald Trump referred to the state and federal criminal charges against him as a “badge of courage” in a speech at a conservative Christian event.

Trump spoke to a large crowd at around 8 pm local time on Saturday and was one of several high-profile Republicans who spoke at the Faith and Freedom Coalition: Road to Majority Conference in Washington DC The former president, who is campaigning for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination , headlined the “pro-faith” and “pro-family” conference’s Saturday festivities where he mentioned two indictments he received in two separate criminal investigations.

Republican presidential candidate former US President Donald Trump arrives on stage to speak at the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority conference at the Washington Hilton on June 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. Trump spoke on a range of topics, including his recent federal indictment, to an audience of conservative evangelical Christians. Drew Angerer/Getty

Trump made United States history in April when he became the first president to be indicted for a crime. In that first indictment, Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into an alleged hush-hush payment made in adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

On June 8, Trump faced his second criminal indictment when a federal grand jury indicted him on 37 counts, including 31 counts of knowingly withholding national defense information. The federal indictment alleges that the former president kept classified documents at his Florida club, Mar-a-Lago, and that he allegedly tried to prevent federal officials from returning the documents.

Trump, who continues to maintain his innocence in both state and federal criminal cases, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Trump has repeatedly referred to the investigations as “witch hunts” and “election interference.”

Newsweek has reached Trump representatives by email for comment.

Speaking on Saturday night, Trump said he considered the state and federal criminal charges against him a “badge of courage.”

“Whenever the radicals leave the Democrats, the Marxists, the communists and the fascists, I consider it a great badge of courage,” Trump said, drawing cheers from the crowd at the Washington Hilton conference.

“I’m being charged for you,” he continued. “And I believe that ‘you’ are more than 200 million people who love our country.”

The crowd started chanting “USA” after Trump boasted that he was “probably the only person in history to be impeached, and my numbers went up.”

The former president repeated his frequent defense that he had “every right” to keep classified documents, arguing that the law was on his side.

“Whatever documents a president decides to bring with him, he has an absolute right to take them,” Trump said in a clip of his speech shared on Twitter. “He has every right to keep them, or he can return them.”

Trump: Whatever documents a President decides to take with him, he has an absolute right to take them. He has every right to keep them or he can return them.. that’s the law pic.twitter.com/WaezsyQMUu

— Acyn (@Acyn) June 25, 2023

Trump complained that “these rascals and thugs” only went after him and not the “many, many” other presidents who obtained the documents after leaving office.

In the speech, Trump also criticized Democratic President Joe Biden and urged his supporters to help oust the “crooked” president from the White House and “take back” the country.

“Joe Biden armed law enforcement to interfere in our elections, the greatest abuse of power that I have seen, that most of you have seen in the history of our country,” Trump said. “It’s a hoax.”

Trump’s trial on charges related to his alleged hush payments is set to begin on March 25, 2024. His trial date for federal charges related to his alleged mismanagement of classified documents will be determined. A judge announced that it will begin on August 14, however, Special Counsel Jack Smith recently requested that the trial be delayed until December 11.

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