Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 charges the Justice Department has brought against him in his indictment. The former president attended federal court in Miami, where he was also fingerprinted and met with special prosecutor Jack Smith. Hours earlier, Ted Cruz legally analyzed the case and identified "obstruction of justice" as the strongest part of the indictment.
The current Republican candidate was indicted on June 9 concerning classified documents found in his Florida residence. According to the Justice Department, the defendant kept high-level material after leaving the White House, improperly shared it with those without authorization, and tried to block any attempt to retrieve the documents.
The Texas senator first branded the Merrick Garland-led DOJ as "hypocritical" since it did not judge Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton by the same standard. "A double standard driven by a Justice Department that I believe is blinded by hate. I think they've convinced themselves that Trump is really Adolf Hitler, so nothing else matters. If you go after Hitler everything is justified," he began.
Cruz worked as an attorney for most of his professional career. First as an intern at the Supreme Court, then at Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal, before being appointed Texas attorney general by Gregg Abbott, then the state's attorney general.
Looking at the Trump indictment, I think the same thing today that I thought last week when it was announced.
This is garbage. #Verdict https://t.co/7BaGqdn9xw pic.twitter.com/spkeBRSzdB
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 13, 2023
"Obstruction claims are where the greatest legal danger lies"
After reading many points of the indictment, which he had printed out, he alleged that it "sounds serious," " except for the problem that this is the president of the United States and every president of the United States has taken on the roles of his time as president, something that goes back to George Washington."
However, he assured that this accusation has much more support than that of Alvin Bragg in Manhattan. "The Justice Department has unlimited funds, unlimited lawyers, unlimited time. When the Justice Department goes after you it is much more serious (...) Alvin Bragg is trying to create crimes where none exist," he said.
"In this case, what they allege is possibly criminal for someone who is not the president of the United States. The problem with this is the double standard and political persecution rather than whether or not this is in violation of the law," he continued, as well as explaining what differentiates the Republican's case from that of the Democrats mentioned above.
"Looking at this indictment, the double standard is a massive problem for the Department of Justice and at this point, Merrick Garland and Jack Smith have done nothing to address this. That said, the obstruction claims are where the greatest legal danger lies," he added.
"If they're going to distinguish Trump from Biden, their best argument is 'well, once Biden found them out, he turned them in and Trump didn't.' So that's why it's different," explained the former presidential candidate, who will seek his third term in the Senate in 2024.
The audios that complicate Trump's case
In addition, Cruz read from the accusation two texts of the former president, which, he said, will be widely repeated in the media: "'All kinds of things, long pages. Wait a minute, let's see here. I just found...not amazing, this totally wins my case you know. Except it's highly confidential, secret, this is secret information, look, look at this,'" the first one said.
"In another section of the transcript he said 'You know, when I was president I could declassify this, but now I can't,' and a Trump aid on the tape says 'That's a problem.' That exchange will play in court as evidence of intent," the senator argued.
The difference with Biden is that he can argue that he was unaware of the existence of those documents and that is why he turned them over, thus avoiding the obstruction of justice of which his potential rival in 2024 is accused. Finally, he predicted that the case could last for months or even years.
This is the first time the Justice Department has indicted a former president, which is why Cruz said everyone is dealing in "uncharted territory."
