Key Points
- Former US president Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal charges.
- Mr Trump was charged under the Espionage Act.
- Supporters and detractors of Mr Trump gathered outside a federal court in Miami.
Former US president Donald Trump has described his indictment as a "heinous abuse of power" and "political persecution" after pleading not guilty to federal criminal charges.
Mr Trump is charged with unlawfully keeping national security documents when he left office and lying to officials who sought to recover them.
He addressed supporters at his luxury golf club in New Jersey on Tuesday night local time and claimed President Joe Biden had had him arrested on fake charges.
"Today we witnessed the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country," Mr Trump said.
"Very sad thing to watch, a corrupt sitting president had his top political opponent arrested on fake and fabricated charges of which he and numerous other presidents would be guilty.
"Right in the middle of a presidential election in which he is losing very badly."
Mr Trump described the case as "election interference" and an attempt to "steal" the 2024 election, echoing a phrase he used after he lost the 2020 election.
"This is called election interference and yet another attempt to rig and steal a presidential election," he said.
"More importantly, it's a political persecution like something straight out of a fascist or communist nation."
The former president claimed he had "every right" to hold the documents, and said the Espionage Act of 1917 was being misused.
He claimed "just about every other president" had kept classified documents.
"Threatening me with 400 years in prison for possessing my own presidential papers which just about every other president has done is one of the most outrageous and vicious legal theories ever put forward in an American court of law," Mr Trump said.
"The Espionage Act has been used to go after traitors and spies. It has nothing to do with a former president legally keeping his own documents. "
He said the Presidential Records Act should be applied to his case.
"As president, the law that applies to this case is not the Espionage Act but very simply the Presidential Records Act, which is not even mentioned in this ridiculous 44-page indictment," he said.
"Under the Presidential Records Act, which is civil, not criminal, I had every right to have these documents."
What happened when Donald Trump appeared in court?
Mr Trump's plea, entered before US Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman in a federal court in Miami, sets up a legal battle likely to play out over coming months as he campaigns to win back the presidency in a November 2024 election.
Experts say it could be a year or more before a trial takes place.
The hearing was closed to cameras and live broadcasts.
Mr Trump's former aide Walt Nauta, also charged in the case, appeared in court as well.
Mr Trump is the first former president to be charged with federal crimes.
Supporters wearing Make America Great Again hats and carrying US flags chanted "Miami for Trump" and "Latinos for Trump" as the motorcade paused outside the courthouse.
Mr Trump has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence and accuses Democratic President Joe Biden's administration of targeting him.
He called Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, a "Trump hater" on social media on Tuesday.
"ONE OF THE SADDEST DAYS IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE!!!" Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform shortly before his motorcade left the Trump Doral hotel for the courthouse.
Mr Smith accuses Mr Trump of risking national secrets by taking thousands of sensitive papers with him when he left the White House in January 2021 and storing them in a haphazard manner at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate and his New Jersey golf club, according to a grand jury indictment released last week.
Photos included in the indictment show boxes of documents stored on a ballroom stage, in a bathroom and strewn across a storage-room floor.
Those records included information about the secretive US nuclear program and potential vulnerabilities in the event of an attack, the indictment said.
The 37-count indictment alleges Mr Trump lied to officials who tried to get them back.
The indictment also alleges Mr Trump conspired with Mr Nauta to keep classified documents and hide them from a federal grand jury.
Mr Nauta has worked for Mr Trump at the White House and at Mar-a-Lago.
Recent events have not dented Mr Trump's hopes of returning to the White House.
After his arraignment Mr Trump was due to fly from Miami to his New Jersey golf club, where he was scheduled to speak.
Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty of illegally hoarding classified documents and thwarting the Justice Department's efforts to get the records back. Source: AAP / Marta Lavandier
A released on Monday showed Mr Trump still led rivals for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election by a wide margin, and 81 per cent of Republican voters viewed the charges as politically motivated.
In an conducted over the weekend 47 per cent of all adults surveyed believed the charges in the documents case were politically motivated, compared with 37 per cent who said they were not.
Most of Mr Trump's Republican rivals for the nomination have lined up behind him and accused the FBI of political bias.
Vivek Ramaswamy, one of those candidates, said outside the Miami courthouse that he would pardon Mr Trump if he were elected.
Mr Trump faces charges that include violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalises unauthorised possession of defence information, and conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
That is the maximum sentence he faces, as he would serve any sentences concurrently if convicted.
Legal experts say the evidence amounts to a strong case, and Mr Smith has said Mr Trump, who will turn 77 on Wednesday, will have a "speedy" trial.
Experts say the complexities of handling classified evidence and legal manoeuvring by Mr Trump's lawyers could delay a trial by more than a year.
In the meantime, Mr Trump is free to campaign for the presidency and could take office even if he were to be found guilty.
