Alina Habba, a legal spokesperson for Donald Trump, on Sunday called the former president “the most ethical American I know,” days after he was charged with additional federal crimes for his alleged mishandling of classified documents after departing the White House.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Habba decried last week’s superseding indictment in the case being prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith as “election interference.”
“This is what happens when you’re winning in the polls and the Democrats can’t win,” she said, echoing Trump’s persecution claims.
Smith last week brought three new felony charges against the former US president in the classified documents probe, including an allegation that Trump ordered Mar-a-Lago surveillance video deleted “to prevent the footage from being provided to a federal grand jury.”
But Habba disputed the charge.
“No tapes were deleted. He turned them over,” Habba said. “He cooperated as he always does.”
She continued: “If President Trump didn’t want something turned over I assure you that is something that could have been done. But he never would act like that. He’s the most ethical American I know.”
Twice-indicted Trump is bracing for more federal criminal charges over his role in efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election, and from the Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ probe over attempts to subvert Joe Biden’s win in Georgia.
He also has been indicted in New York over his role in a hush money payment scheme involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Earlier this month, Habba was dropped from Trump’s legal defence team and assumed the role of legal spokesperson and general counsel for his Save America PAC, which reportedly has spent $40 million (£31 million) bankrolling Trump’s legal expenses in the first half of 2023.
She previously testified before the grand jury probing Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.