a bedrock principle of the department of justice and our nation s commitment to the rule of law sets a an example for the world. we have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone. applying those laws, collecting facts, that s what determines the outcome of an investigation. nothing more, nothing less. the words of rachel math maddow, stunningly simple words in both the indictment and from behind the podium. it was the first time we as an american public have ever heard from the special counsel notably he praised the fbi and the prosecutors on his team. rachel pointed out they have already come under vicious attack by the indicted ex-president. he encouraged all of us to read the indictment itself, an endeavor we re taking seriously. it s known as a speaking indictment, meaning it is straight forward and, frankly, gripping and dramatic. it lays out the alleged crimes
adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the department ofjustice, and our nation s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world. we have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone. if found guilty, donald trump potentially faces years in prison. he s due to appear at a federal court in miami on tuesday. trump says he s innocent. this was his reaction when the indictment was first announced on thursday. it s called election interference. they re trying to destroy a reputation so they- can win an election. that sjust as bad as doing any. of the other things that have been done over the last number of years, and especially during the 2020 election. so ijust want to tell- you i m an innocent man, i did nothing wrong, and we ll fight this just like we ve been fighting for seven years. live now to nomia iqbal, in miami. you ve been speaking
and retaining classified government documents. the indictment itself includes these photographs, showing those documents stored throughout his mar a lago estate in florida. you can see boxes in various states in closets, a bathroom and even onstage in his ballroom. the documents contained sensitive information on foreign countries s defence capabilities and weaknesses, as well as the us nuclear programme. the indictment, which also charges a trump aide, lays out other other evidence in the form of text messages, testimony from former trump employees, and lawyers. here s jack smith, the independent special council, speaking earlier today. our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the united states, and they must be enforced. violations of those laws put our country at risk. adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the department ofjustice, and our nation s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world. we
with the government after the government tried to subpoena them to get the records back. they lay out a series of damning episodes where the former president is encouraging one of his aides to hide them not only from trump s own lawyers but from investigators. speaking of special counsel jack smith, we heard from him for the first time today. he spoke briefly. let s listen to what he said. our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the united states and they must be enforced. violations of those laws put our country at risk. adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle for the department of justice and our nation s commitment to the rule of law selgtts an example to th world. we have one set of laws in the country and they apply to everyone. the defendants in this case must
and tearing down the all of the pillars that make that system work so well. so just to remind your viewers, when the mueller investigation was going, the first of the pillars to go was the bedrock principle of a presumption of innocence. remember, donald trump didn t have that presumption. he had to conclusively prove his innocence. then quickly it shifted in the ukraine impeachment to the suspension of the principle of due process of law, and donald trump became the first president never to be allowed to have legal representation throughout the house proceedings. more recently with mar-a-lago, the next principle to go was equal protection under the law. and we saw that when the same statute was applied between trump and biden regarding classified documents, trump s home was raided, biden s lawyers were allowed to just casually turn over documents whenever they want. so this latest sort of tortured prosecution that is in the