Former President Donald Trump declined to answer during an interview this week whether he ordered anyone to move boxes at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida last year to hide evidence from investigators in the criminal investigation into his alleged handling of classified U.S. intelligence after leaving the White House. The former president also said he would “absolutely” testify in his own defense if he goes to trial.
Trump made the remarks during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday when asked about the federal obstruction charge that he faces in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation.
Hewitt asked Trump, “Did you direct anyone to move the boxes after the subpoena was issued?”
Trump initially responded by comparing the charge to “Russia, Russia, Russia,” suggesting that “Deranged Jack Smith” created a “fake case” against him.
After a few moments passed, Hewitt again pressed the former president, “But did you direct anyone to move the boxes, Mr. President? Did you tell anyone to move the boxes?”
“I don’t talk about anything. You know why? Because I’m allowed to do whatever I want. I come under the Presidential Records Act. I’m not telling you,” Trump fired back. “You know, every time I talk to you, ‘Oh, I have a breaking story.’ You don’t have any story. I come under the Presidential Records Act. I’m allowed to do everything I did.”
Later in the interview, Hewitt asked Trump, “So if you have to go to trial, will you testify in your own defense?”
“Oh, yes, absolutely,” Trump said, confirming that he would take the stand. “That, I would do. That, I look forward to, because that’s just like Russia, Russia, Russia. That’s all the fake information from Russia, Russia, Russia. Remember when the dossier came out and everyone said ‘oh, that’s so terrible, that’s so terrible,’ and then it turned out to be it was a political report put out by Hillary Clinton and the DNC. They paid millions for it. They gave it to Christopher Steele. They paid millions and millions of dollars for it, and it was all fake. It was all fake.”
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Hewitt then again pressed him about the obstruction charge, saying that he believes that it is going to go to trial.
“Okay, if you do [testify] and they ask you on the stand, did you order anyone to move boxes, how will you answer?” Hewitt asked.
“I’m not answering that question for you,” Trump fired back, “but I’m totally covered under the law.”
WATCH:
In an interview on his radio show, @hughhewitt asked Trump if he told anyone to move boxes.
Trump: “I don’t talk about anything. You know why? Because I’m allowed to do whatever I want. I come under the Presidential Records Act. I’m not telling you…At trial, I’ll testify.” pic.twitter.com/9v2tIblPYp
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 7, 2023