Trump said after returning from his arraignment hearing "Today we witnessed the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country. Very sad thing to watch,"
In a historic first court appearance as a federal defendant, Donald Trump entered a not guilty plea on Tuesday to dozens of felony counts alleging improper handling of some of the US government's most sensitive secrets and planning to block their return.
The former president, who is the front-runner to represent the Republicans in the upcoming election, surrendered to US Marshals in Miami for a hearing that set up the historically rare scenario of a White House race contested both in court and through the vote box.
Trump was formally charged with 37 counts under seven accusations by a magistrate judge on the eve of his 77th birthday. The allegations were brought by a special counsel investigation that began following an FBI search of Trump's Florida residence 10 months ago.
In contrast, he characterised the charge as an attempt to meddle in the 2024 election in a speech to supporters and denounced his prosecution as politically motivated.
"Today, we saw the most vile and terrible abuse of power in our nation's history. Very horrible thing to behold," Trump stated upon arriving at his New Jersey vacation home.
The former reality TV star's escalating legal troubles threatened to disrupt his bid to return to the White House at the time of the hearing, which took place just weeks after Trump rejected state-level financial fraud charges in a separate case in Manhattan.
Trump is accused of breaking the Espionage Act and other laws when he removed confidential records after leaving office in 2021 and refused to turn them over to the National Archives, according to the US government, which has never before prosecuted a former president.
Authorities claim he planned to obstruct investigators and intentionally disclosed sensitive information to others without the proper clearance.
Trump flew returned to his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, following the hearing, when he accused President Joe Biden of bringing charges against him.
Speaking from the front of the clubhouse, at a podium surrounded by American flags, Trump said, "A corrupt sitting president had his top political opponent arrested on fake and fabricated charges -- of which he and numerous other presidents would be guilty -- right in the middle of a presidential election, in which he's losing very badly."
Several hundred people cheered him on, including 100 members of a conservative group of Vietnamese Americans who were wearing red skirts that matched and yelling, "We love Trump."
'Travesty'
According to a recent Ipsos poll, 81 percent of Republican voters support Trump strongly and think the accusations against him are motivated by politics.
Trump's indictment was dubbed "a travesty" by Antonio Rufa, 30, who had travelled to Bedminister to support the businessman, and the prosecution, according to Vincent Larusso, 57, was intended to keep Trump from seeking reelection.
"People can see this is not democracy from a hundred miles away," Larusso told AFP.
Since officials learned his correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was missing, the government has reportedly found more than 300 documents from Trump with classified markings, according to US media.
Prosecutors claimed that the documents, some of which dealt with the military and nuclear capabilities of the United States and other countries as well as "plans for potential retaliation in response to a foreign attack," were the product of top national security and law enforcement organisations like the CIA and NSA.
The 49-page indictment, which Trump called "ridiculous," has images of record boxes stacked in a ballroom, a bathroom and a shower at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach home.
According to one photograph, several of the boxes that had been transported to a storage room dropped by December 2021, spreading their contents all over the floor.
'Don't Play Ball'
The indictment quotes Trump as saying to a lawyer: "What happens if we just don't respond at all or don't play ball with them?" in response to a request for the delivery of the records. Trump rejected his attorneys' attempts to comply with the subpoena.
Trump, who is currently leading Ron DeSantis by more than 30 points in the 2024 Republican primary, has previously been impeached over claims of misconduct in government and was recently found guilty of sexual abuse.
He is under investigation or has been indicted in four criminal matters -- one each in Washington, Florida, Georgia, and New York -- and he may go to trial in a number of instances while running for re-election.
The brazen billionaire has frequently claimed that the investigations into him are nothing more than a "witch hunt" and has promised to continue running regardless of the outcome of the papers case.
When he resumes his duties, he promised to name a special prosecutor to look into the allegations against Biden, who is not the subject of any solid criminal charges.
The seriousness of the accusations against Trump has generally been downplayed by Republican leaders in Congress and Trump's opponents for the party's presidential nomination, who have instead attacked the Justice Department.
According to the Pew Research Centre, only 1% of federal defendants in the US go to trial and are found not guilty. The bulk, or almost 90%, enter guilty pleas.
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