Former President Donald Trump said he will “absolutely” testify in a trial court during an interview with Hugh Hewitt Wednesday.
Trump is set to go to trial next May in connection to over thirty charges brought against him for storing 300,000 classified documents in his private residence at Mar-a-Lago. The former president pleaded not guilty to all 37 counts and has claimed he had the right to declassify the documents under the Presidential Records Act.
“Did you tell anyone to move the boxes?” Hewitt began.
“I don’t talk about anything. You know why? You know why? Because I’m allowed to do whatever I want. I come under the Presidential Records Act. I’m not telling you. You know, every time I talk to you, ‘oh, I have a breaking story.’ I come under the Presidential Records Act. I’m allowed to do everything I did.”
“But if you have to go to trial, will you testify in your own defense?” Hewitt asked.
“Oh, yes, absolutely,” Trump answered.
“You would take the stand,” he said.
“That I would, that I look forward to. Because that’s just like Russia, Russia, Russia. That’s all the fake information from Russia, Russia, Russia,” the former president added. (RELATED: ‘Never Told Anybody To Delete Them’: Trump Denies Trying To Delete Mar-A-Lago Security Tapes)
Trump refused to tell Hewitt how he will answer to having moved and stored classified material in his home after the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requested to obtain fifteen boxes consisting of the documents for several months. The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago in August 2022, where they retrieved around 20 boxes of binders of photographs, a handwritten note, an executive grant of clemency for Roger Stone and information about the President of France.
Trump faces three separate indictments for allegedly falsifying business records to pay $130,000 in hush money to former porn actress Stormy Daniels and for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Counsel Jack Smith handed down the indictment relating to the classified documents Jun. 8.