Former President Donald Trump is insisting that he will stay in the presidential race even if he is convicted on charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Trump was indicted on 37 counts by a grand jury on charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith last week, and he told Politico on Saturday he will not drop out if found guilty by a jury of the alleged crimes.
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“I’ll never leave,” Trump told the outlet on his plane.
“Look, if I would have left, I would have left prior to the original race in 2016. That was a rough one. In theory, that was not doable,” Trump continued.
When asked by the outlet if he will have to pardon himself if elected president in 2024, he told the outlet he did not see why he would have to and insisted he is innocent.
“I don’t think I’ll ever have to. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Trump said to the outlet.
Trump was charged with 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of withholding a document or record, one count of corruptly concealing a document or record, one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, one count for a scheme to conceal, and one count related to alleged false statements.
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The former president leads the GOP field, with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) being his closest competitor while all other candidates are far behind.
If convicted, Trump could face jail time for the alleged crimes related to the mishandling of classified materials. President Joe Biden is currently under a special counsel investigation due to his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
