Former US President Donald Trump has described his federal indictment as “ridiculous” and “baseless”. He made the remarks at a Republican Party convention in Georgia during his first public appearance since the charges were unsealed, accusing him of 37 counts, including 31 counts of willful retention of sensitive documents related to national defense information at his Mar-a-Lago property, CNN reported.

Trump on Saturday cast his federal indictment as “election interference,” telling Georgia Republicans it represented an abuse of power by the Biden administration, it reported. “This is a political hit job. Republicans are treated far different at the Justice Department than Democrats,” said Trump who offered no evidence for his claims at a state GOP convention in Columbus.

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Former US President Donald Trump faces a total of 37 counts, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information. While addressing the people in Georgia, he said that any other Republican at the top of the party’s 2024 ticket will face similar scrutiny and legal challenges, as per the CNN report.

“The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration’s weaponized department of injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country,” CNN quoted the former president as saying.

Trump’s remarks were reminiscent of his first rally after last summer’s FBI search of his Mar-A-Lago estate. Speaking to supporters in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in September, Trump accused Biden of weaponizing federal law enforcement in what he said was “one of the most shocking abuses of power by any administration in American history,”as per the news report.

Donald Trump said, “Somebody else? They’re not going to withstand that fire.” While speaking about his second indictment in less than three months, he said, “Our people are angry.” He denied wrongdoing and called the probe as “a sad day for the country.” He is scheduled to appear in a federal courtroom in Miami on Tuesday, where he will be read the charges against him.

Trump has avoided legal culpability in his personal, professional and political lives. He has settled a number of private civil legal cases through the years and paid his way out of disputes concerning the Trump Organization, according to CNN report.

After leaving office, the US Justice Department’s criminal probe into the alleged retention of classified information at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election cast dark clouds over the former president. Earlier in March, the Manhattan district attorney in New York indicted Trump on charges related to hush-money payments to a former adult star.