James Trusty, one of the attorneys representing former President Donald Trump in the classified documents case, joined Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday and ripped the Department of Justice, which he said he no longer even recognized.
Todd opened the segment by referencing reports that classified documents may have been moved from Mar-a-Lago after a subpoena for them had already been issued, and that Trump “personally examined” some of them. “What’s your client’s response to this?” he asked.
Trusty:
Well, that it’s nonsense. I mean, look, there`s been a campaign of leaks from DOJ unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I was a prosecutor for 27 years. I`ve spent 17 at this Department of Justice. I don’t recognize it anymore. They are consistently leaking. The angle they’re pushing on the obstruction is to try to create some sort of daylight between Joe Biden’s possession of documents and President Trump’s, and it`s not going to work.
I mean they have literally put in everybody in the grand jury you can imagine. They don’t respect any privilege that President Trump holds, and it’s desperately trying to find an obstruction angle that just isn`t there. [Emphasis mine.]
Todd followed up by claiming that Trump had basically admitted to a crime because he has repeatedly said that he had the “right” as president to look at whatever classified information he chose. Trusty countered by telling Todd he did not understand the underlying law:
…I think you are misinterpreting the Presidential Records Act. You notice, he didn’t say, “I did this. I possessed it.”
He said, “I would have the right.” He is correct. Under the Presidential Records Act, which is a non-criminal statute, that’s the key. DOJ and political bureaucrats at NARA criminalized something using criminal tools, grand jury subpoenas, search warrants for a statute that says, look, ex-presidents work with NARA, work with them for years, figure out what stuff they get.
Trusty also pointed out that Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice clearly treats people differently based on their political views. We now know that President Joe Biden also had reams of classified documents in his possession—some dating back to his Senate days—yet the FBI didn’t raid his home.
Chuck, the point of it is not to say that somebody else [namely Joe Biden] broke the law, and we did too, it`s OK. It’s to point out that the common denominator, whether you are talking about New York, Georgia, or [the] DOJ is differential treatment for President Trump than anybody in history.
As usual, Chuck Todd was completely biased and even went so far as to accuse Trump of holding on to classified documents in order to get paid. “That’s a cheap shot,” Trusty fired back. Watch:
Todd continued to badger Trusty throughout the interview and acted as if were Joe Biden’s personal lawyer. Trusty however was undeterred:
No. Look, the president is – he’s a very resilient guy. He’s a very opinionated guy. I’m not going to spend my time worrying about the politics, worrying about how his poll numbers are through the roof. I mean, I don’t care about that stuff. I’m here in the legal lane, and he’s got a right to be frustrated, but he’s not just frustrated for himself.
He`s frustrated for the country.