Former US president Donald Trump defended himself in a tough interview on Fox News, claiming he was too busy to sort through classified documents as he faces charges of mishandling government secrets, including violating the Espionage Act.

Former US president Donald Trump, facing dozens of charges of mishandling classified government secrets, defended himself Monday in an unusually tough interview on conservative-leaning Fox News, saying he had been too “busy” to sort through the documents.

Trump appeared last Tuesday before a judge in Miami to be formally presented with 37 charges brought by the federal government following an FBI search of his Florida mansion last August.

The Department of Justice accuses Trump, vying to win back the White House next year, of violating the Espionage Act and other laws when he removed classified documents upon leaving office and failed to give them up to the National Archives.

“In my case, I took it out pretty much in a hurry, but people packed it up, and we left. And I had clothing in there; I had all sorts of personal items in there, much much stuff,” Trump declared.

“I have every right to have those boxes,” he claimed.

He added: “I was very busy, as you’ve sort of seen.”

In its indictment, the Justice Department described evidence, including an audio recording from a July 2021 meeting that Trump, who was no longer president, had with an author, a publisher, and two of his staff, none of whom had a US security clearance, in which Trump showed them what he called a “secret” and “highly confidential” document.

Miroslava Salazar with AFP

Subscribe to our newsletter

Newsletter signup

Please wait...

Thank you for sign up!