Trump addresses reluctance to hand over documents in first interview since indictment
Trump said his boxes containing classified documents were 'interspersed with all sorts of things'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PROGRAMMING ALERT: Tune in to Fox News Channel at 6:00 p.m. ET to catch Bret Baier's full interview with Trump
Former President Trump defended his storage of classified documents and vowed to continue pursuing the 2024 Republican nomination despite his legal woes in his first TV interview since he was indicted on 37 federal charges earlier this month.
The former president sat down with Fox News' Bret Baier for a wide-ranging exclusive interview scheduled to air in two segments on Monday and Tuesday on "Special Report." Baier told his colleague Martha MacCallum on "The Story" that the interview addresses nearly "every question that you would want to ask the former president."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP SAYS INDICTMENT IS ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL’
In clips previewing the interview, Trump defended his reluctance to hand over the documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate while taking aim at National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) when pressed on details of the indictment by Baier.
"The only way NARA could ever get this stuff, this back would be [to say] please, please, please could we have it back," Trump said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They did ask for it," the Fox News host responded.
"No, we were talking," Trump interjected.
"They said can you give the documents back and then they went to the DOJ to subpoena you to give the documents back," Baier replied.
Trump noted that they have "never" taken that course of action before with a former president.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Why not just hand them over then?" Baier pressed.
"Because I had boxes. I want to go through the boxes and get my personal things out. I don’t want to hand that over to NARA yet. And I very was busy as you’ve sort of seen," he said.
Baier said that according to the indictment, Trump directed his aide to move the documents to other locations despite insisting he fully complied with the subpoena, "when you hadn’t."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump said he refused to send the boxes to NARA until he had time to take his "things out."
"Before I send boxes over, I have to take my things out," he told Baier. "These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things."
Earlier this month, the former president was indicted on 37 federal counts, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. He has pled not guilty.
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Watch part one of the exclusive interview on "Special Report," on Monday, June 19th at 6:00pm ET.