By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House of Representatives Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on Friday urged supporters and critics of former President Donald Trump to let his case “proceed peacefully in court” after he was indicted.
U.S. prosecutors unsealed a 37-count indictment against Trump on Friday, accusing him of risking some of the country’s most sensitive security secrets after leaving office in 2021.
“No one is above the law – including Donald Trump. This indictment must now play out through the legal process, without any outside political or ideological interference,” Schumer and Jeffries said in a joint statement.
“We encourage Mr. Trump’s supporters and critics alike to let this case proceed peacefully in court,” their joint statement added.
President Joe Biden said on Friday he had not spoken to Attorney General Merrick Garland and had no plans to do so, as the Justice Department’s indictment of Republican Trump was unsealed.
Biden and the top congressional Democrats, Schumer and Jeffries, did not take direct aims at Trump on Friday over the indictment related to the former president’s handling of classified documents.
Trump faces 37 criminal counts including charges of unauthorized retention of classified documents and conspiracy to obstruct justice after he left the White House in 2021, according to federal court documents made public on Friday.
Republicans have alleged, without evidence, that the investigation into Trump, who is running to unseat Biden from the White House in 2024, is politically motivated. Biden and top officials have repeatedly said the Justice Department is acting independently.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Jasper Ward and Alistair Bell)
