Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) asserted Tuesday that the harm the prosecution of former President Donald Trump does to the country “far outweighs the damage (if any)” the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges in its 49-page indictment.
Rubio’s defense of his former campaign rival came in a tweet in which he emphasized that the DOJ is attempting to jail Trump “FOR LIFE.”
“The damage this is already inflicting on our country far outweighs the damage (if any) from what they allege in the indictment,” he added.
His comments came hours before Trump arrived in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami on Thursday, where he faces 37 counts relating to the Department of Justice’s classified documents investigation into him.
After Trump announced the indictment on Thursday, the DOJ unsealed the document on Friday, which alleges 31 separate counts under the Espionage Act of willful retention of national security information. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 400 years if he is convicted and if the counts are imposed consecutively, Breitbart News Senior Editor Joel Pollak pointed out.
Trump has maintained that he is innocent and has asserted the investigation into documents he brought from the White House to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach has been weaponized. After the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Mar-a-Lago last August, Trump called it “prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats.”
Smith spoke briefly after the indictment was unsealed on Friday and did not take questions from reporters, as Breitbart News noted:
C-SPANThe men and women of the United States intelligence community and our armed forces dedicate their lives to protecting our nation and its people. Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States, and they must be enforced.
Violations of those laws put our country at risk. Adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the Department of Justice, and our nation’s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world. We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.
Trump arrived at the courthouse in Miami just before 2:00 p.m. By nearly 3:00 p.m., Trump had been booked but was still awaiting his arraignment, according to ABC News’s live broadcast.
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