Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday held his first sit-down TV interview since the FBI entered his Mar-a-Lago home and took over 100 classified documents, discussing the myriad investigations into him.
Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity and Trump focused on the concept of “equal justice under the law,” citing the FBI raid and the recent lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James as evidence of a two-tiered justice system.
Here are the top takeaways from Trump’s interview with Hannity.
Lawsuit brought by New York AG Letitia James: “Terrible”
In James’s lawsuit, Trump, along with his children Eric, Ivanka, and Donald Jr., are accused of fraudulent business practices, namely manipulating asset valuations of properties in several states.
Trump said the “terrible” lawsuit was something he didn’t think would ever happen, calling it a “witch hunt.”
When asked whether James offered him a settlement deal prior to making the case public, Trump circumvented the question, stating that in his opinion, he could have settled the case.
TOP FIVE TAKEAWAYS: HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT LETITIA JAMES’S FRAUD LAWSUIT AGAINST TRUMP
“But I had a problem, because how do you pay something, even if it’s a small amount of money, if you’re not guilty?” he said.
On loan applications, he said that while his management company did provide values for the properties, his company always put a disclaimer stating that banks needed to complete their own asset value estimates to make sure the figures were accurate.
“These are banks that have the best lawyers in the world. … I never got a default note,” he said. “I paid [loans] back because we have a lot of cash. I paid them back. I paid many of them off. I have very little debt. … They didn’t lose money.”
Trump said he does not believe James has a case against him.
“She’s trying to defend banks that got paid off,” Trump said. “She is trying to defend banks that had unbelievable legal talent. I will tell you that they are very good.”
U.S. justice system: “People are so tired of this stuff.”
Trump argued the United States does not have a fair justice system, pointing to the Mar-a-Lago raid as evidence of inequality.
He stated that while he believes there are double standards, especially among leaders in the FBI, he was not going to release any footage showing the agents who participated in the raid.
“They’ve [the FBI] asked me not to do because they feel the FBI agents might be in physical harm and danger,” he said. “There is a fervor in this country. People in this country are so tired of this stuff.”
He said keeping documentation at his home was justifiable, considering the level of Secret Service security at his estate.
Trump added that he does not believe he will be prosecuted, mentioning how Hilary Clinton and Hunter Biden were never prosecuted for any alleged misgivings.
“It’s a very unfair situation. … They certainly didn’t raid their homes,” he said.
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He expressed his displeasure at the nature of the raid, stating it was unwarranted given that he, his attorneys, and FBI agents were being cooperative.
His attorneys showed the FBI boxes within Trump’s home, and agents left the estate with Trump believing it was routine and he had done everything correctly.
“So why did they come in and do that, especially since we were having such great conversations?” Trump told Hannity.
He said the departure from the White House was heavily documented in photographs, showing all of the belongings that he was removing with the help of staff and government services.
“If we wanted to do this, we’d do it through the basement, and we wouldn’t let anyone take pictures,” he said. “We had nothing to hide.”
No mention of the special master order
Trump did not mention or disclose details on his pick for a special master to review the confiscated documents during his Wednesday interview.
Two days ago, Judge Raymond Dearie told the former president that he needed to provide evidence of declassification, or else he must assume the documents are classified and treat them as such.
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However, Trump said in the interview that the president doesn’t need to have a process to declassify documents and can do so just by saying it or “even thinking it.”
“When they left the White House, they were declassified,” Trump said.
