Trump attorney spars with NBC's Chuck Todd, says former president is receiving 'differential treatment'
An attorney for former President Trump sparred with NBC's Chuck Todd on Sunday over questions surrounding the potential mishandling of classified documents and avoided answering whether Trump was seeking a financial settlement with the National Archives and Records Administration over the matter.
On NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Todd questioned attorney Jim Trusty over Trump's defense in the case involving the documents, which were found as part of an FBI search of Mar-a-Lago property. Todd asked if Trump believed he should get a financial settlement for holding the documents, pointing to former President Richard Nixon who was paid $18 million for his audio tapes.
"Ah, that’s just a cheap shot," Trusty responded.
Todd asked, "He keeps bringing up this Nixon thing. What other reason is there for bringing it up?"
"So look, this is – this has rotten underpinning in terms of bureaucrats being politicized followed up by an all too eager DOJ to criminalize something that's not a crime," Trusty added in his response. "That was the point of the president’s comments."
When asked if Trump personally packed up the boxes containing classified documents, Trusty reiterated that the former president did not.
"President Trump didn't sit there with masking tape and Sharpies and say, 'Hey, let's sit down Indian style and start packing these boxes and send them to Mar-a-Lago,'" he said.
Trusty also pointed to the discovery of classified document in President Biden's private residence in Delaware, arguing that the Biden's documents are "much more egregious and intentional."
"Is your defense that 'Hey, we think other people broke the law. So let us break the law?'" Todd asked Trusty, who responded, "Of course not."
"I just think that doesn't seem to be a good defense," Todd noted.
"The point of it is not to say that somebody else broke the law and we did too, it's OK," Trusty said. "It's to point out that the common denominator, whether you're talking about New York, Georgia, or DOJ, is differential treatment for President Trump than anybody in history."
Trump is facing an array of legal challenges, including a Just Department probe into his potential mishandling of classified documents from in his time in office. Trump has maintained that he has not done anything wrong, saying in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity last month that he "would have the right" to look at documents.
When asked about Trump's comments, Trusty agreed.
"But I think you're misinterpreting the Presidential Records Act," he told Todd. "You notice he didn't say 'I did this, I possessed it.' He said, 'I would have the right.' He's correct under the Presidential Records Act, which is a non criminal statute."