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Donald Trump spoke out against the criminal investigations into him in a lengthy interview to Newsmax and continued to push false election fraud claims, which were later rebuked by the network.
Trump spoke to Newsmax's Eric Bolling in Bedminster, New Jersey, soon after getting indicted for the third time this year as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's January 6 federal investigation, and amid strong speculation that he will soon be charged in Georgia under Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' 2020 election interference probe.
Trump, the frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, has denied any wrongdoing in connection to the criminal inquiries into him and frequently says they are politically motivated "witch hunts."
Below, Newsweek has compiled some of the key moments from Trump's interview on Newsmax.
Georgia Won't Stand for Another Indictment
Trump also hit out at the speculation that he is going to be indicted for the fourth time this year under Willis' 2020 election probe in Georgia.
The former president claimed the people of Georgia would not "stand for it" if he gets charged over allegations he and his allies attempted to overturn the election results, while continuing to push false claims he won the state in 2020.
"I don't think the people of Georgia—where I did very well and I won it the first time and I won it, I think, by much more the second time, I can say that about the whole election, too—I don't think they'd stand for it," Trump said.
Trump also defended his January 2021 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during which the former president asked him to "find" the 11,780 votes needed to beat Biden in Georgia, according to an audio recording.
"This is about a perfect phone call. A call where I'm questioning the election. I'm telling them that, in my opinion, the election was rigged. And they're saying that I did something incorrect. I didn't do anything wrong," Trump said.
"I believe I won that election by many, many votes, many, many hundreds of thousands of votes. That's what I think, and I expressed that on the phone call."
Eric Bolling 2020 Election Disclaimer
Once the interview on Newsmax concluded, Trump shook Bolling's hand and told him that the host was "doing a fantastic job."
Newsmax then cut back to Bolling in the studio, who told viewers that the news network does not share the views made by the former president that the last election was rigged and that Trump had beaten Joe Biden in 2020.
"Now just a note, Newsmax has accepted the election results as legal and final," Bolling said before swiftly moving on.
Newsmax, along with fellow conservative news channels Fox News and One America News Network, have been accused of pushing falsehoods about the results of the 2020 election.
Newsmax is currently being sued by voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for defamation for spreading misinformation about the 2020 election results.
In April, Fox News settled with Dominion for $787.5 million rather than head to what was a hotly anticipated defamation trial over the network's false claims suggesting Dominion Voting Systems helped steal the 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump using fraudulent voting machines.
"Newsmax believes that the facts at issue in Dominion's case against us are materially different from those that may have driven Fox to settle and no conclusion about Newsmax should be drawn from that settlement," the company said in statement following the Fox News settlement. "Newsmax stands by its coverage and analysis of the 2020 election and will continue to vigorously defend against the claim."
January 6 Committee 'Deleted' Evidence
The former president accused the House Select Committee that investigated the events leading up to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, of having deleted and destroyed evidence his legal team sought as part of Trump's defense.
The panel, which held a series of live presentations detailing its findings in the summer of 2022, recommended in December that year that the Department of Justice charge Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to make a false statement and aiding an insurrection.
"I call them, everything was deleted and destroyed," Trump said. "The documents—everything was deleted and destroyed. That's a criminal act."
Trump alleged that the panel, which disbanded in January 2023 when the GOP took control of the House and, having completed their work, deleted the evidence obtained because it "didn't want anybody to see it, because the real answers were there, but they didn't want to report it."
Mississippi congressman Bennie Thompson, who chaired the January 6 panel, has been contacted for comment via email.
Teasing GOP Primary Debate Announcement
Trump also hinted that he would soon confirm whether he intends to take part in the first Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23.
Trump has previously said he has no intention of taking part in the debate with the other 2024 presidential hopefuls as he is leading the polls in the crowded field by a substantial margin, and therefore does not see any reason for it.
"In the past, you said, 'It'd be stupid to go to that debate, because I'm winning,'" Bolling said to Trump "You're not going to that debate, are you?"
"I'll let it be known next week," Trump replied. When asked for clarification, Trump said that he has "already decided, and I'll be announcing something next week."
Important To Go After 'Corrupt' Joe Biden
Trump also accused the president and his family of being "corrupt" while saying the GOP must focus on impeaching Biden over allegations he involved himself in his son Hunter Biden's foreign business deals.
The GOP has long vowed to investigate and launch impeachment hearings over alleged corruption within the Biden family, including claiming that as vice president, Biden used his influence to intervene in his son's business dealings in Ukraine and China. The allegations have been denied by both the White House and Hunter Biden's lawyers.
"One of the reasons they [Biden administration] go after me is because the Republicans are going after them and going after them very, very powerfully," Trump said.
"But something has to happen. I mean, it's massive theft. It's extortion. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. This is the most corrupt human being. This is the most corrupt family. For these things to be happening, it's not even believable.
"I heard a couple of Republicans, nice people, and they said, 'Well, we have other things to worry about; we have to do this. We have to do that,'" Trump added.
"What could be more important than this?"
The White House has been contacted for comment via email.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more