Former President Trump called his historic federal indictment ridiculous and baseless on Saturday in his first public appearance since the indictments were unsealed.

Speaking at a Republican state convention in Georgia, Trump released his impeachment by the Justice Department as an attempt to damage his chances of returning to the White House as he campaigns for a second term.

They have launched one witch hunt after another to try to stop our movement, to thwart the will of the American people, Trump said.

supposedly,

later telling the crowd, “They’re not coming after me in the end. They’re coming after you.”

The strategy is a worn-out strategy for Trump, who despite his

mounting is growing

legal woes, that

So

include criminal charges filed against him in March in New York. Time and again, despite the investigation, Trump has tried to delegitimize law enforcement and portray himself and his supporters as victims, even as he faces serious charges.

The indictment, unsealed Friday, accuses Trump of willfully ignoring Justice Department demands to return classified documents, enlisting aides in his efforts to conceal the records, and even telling his lawyers to serve a subpoena. wanted to defy for the materials stored in his residence.

The charges include allegations that he stored documents in a ballroom and bathroom at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Trump will make his first appearance in federal court in Miami on Tuesday. He was charged with valet Walt Nauta, a personal assistant who prosecutors say moved boxes from a storage unit to Trump’s residence for

him the former president

to review and later lied to investigators about the move. Nauta traveled to Georgia with Trump and showed up at his side at a Waffle House stop where

former President Trump

signed autographs, posed for photos and told supporters we had done absolutely nothing wrong.

Earlier Saturday, Trump received a heroic reception at the party convention in Georgia, where he garnered loud applause as he dismissed the investigation as a political hit and accused his political enemies of launching one hoax and witch hunt after another to prevent his re-election.

The ludicrous and baseless indictment by the armed Department of Injustice of the Biden administration will go down as one of the most heinous abuses of power in the history of our country,” he said.

He also used his remarks to rail against the president

joe

Biden and his 2016 Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, accuse them of mishandling classified information and insist he was treated unfairly because he is a Republican. But Trump overlooked a crucial difference: Only he has been accused of deliberately trying to hinder investigators by not returning the classified documents.

For example, in the Clinton investigation, FBI investigators concluded that while she was extremely careless in her handling of classified emails on a private server, there was no evidence that she intended to break the law. And although the Biden investigation is

Calm

underway, no evidence has emerged to suggest that he intentionally withheld the records or even knew they were there, with his representatives handing over the records after they were discovered and voluntarily agreeing to FBI investigations.

Trump also dwelt on Georgia’s role in his 2020 defeat, repeating his lies that he won the state and defending his attempts to reverse Biden’s victory, which is now the subject of a survey by Fulton County Dist. considerate Fanie Willis. She has suggested that any charges would

probably probably

come in august

At the heart of the investigation is a recorded phone call in which Trump insists

Georgia

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger needs to find 11,780 votes, just enough to overtake Biden and reverse Trump’s small loss in the state.

Despite the latest criminal charges, those in attendance cheered him on in Georgia and eagerly awaited his arrival in North Carolina, where he

want something

speak

PLEASE CHANGE TO ‘SPOKE’ AFTER IT HAPPENED

at the party’s convention Saturday night.

About 100 supporters, some waving witch-hunt signs, showed up at the airport in Columbus, Georgia, to greet Trump as he arrived. Jan Plemmons, 66, wearing an oversized Make America Great Again foam cap, called the federal charges absolutely ludicrous and said she was ready to campaign with Trump. For Michael Sellers, 67, what they did to him was criminal.”

The indictment comes as Trump

goes on goes on

to dominate the primary race. Other candidates have largely attacked the Justice Department rather than Trump for the investigation. But the scale of the allegations and the scope of the indictment could make it more difficult for Republicans to protest these allegations compared to a previous New York criminal case that many legal analysts derided as weak.

Of the various investigations Trump has faced, the documents case has long been considered the most dangerous threat and the most ripe for prosecution. But Trump’s enduring popularity among Republican voters is evidenced by how warily his main rivals have handled the federal indictment.

Mike Pence, whose performance in North Carolina marked the first shared venue with his former boss since the ex-vice president announced his own campaign last week, condemned the Justice Department’s politicization and urged

Attorney General

attentive General Merrick Garland “to stop hiding behind special counsel and stand before the American people to explain the basis for the federal investigation into Trump.

In an interview with

T

the Associated Press after his speech, Pence said he read the indictment but repeatedly refused to share his personal reaction to its contents, including the photos of boxes of classified information piled up in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom and on a ballroom podium or to criticize Trump.

The nature of a grand jury is that no defense is presented, Pence said. That’s why I said today that I will urge patience, encourage people to pray for the former president, but also for all those in authority and for the country moving forward.

At the North Carolina GOP meeting Friday night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s main GOP rival, did not name Trump, but compared his situation to Clinton’s.

Is there a different standard for a Democratic secretary of state than for a former Republican president? asked DeSantis. I think there should be one standard of justice in this country. … At the end of the day, we will end once and for all the arming of the government under my rule.

Among the declared Republican contenders, only Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has explicitly called on Trump to end his candidacy. Hutchinson told reporters in Georgia that the Republican Party must not lose its soul defending Trump and said the evidence so far suggested the former president was treating national secrets as entertainment tools.