Coons says Trump only has himself to blame for indictment

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) on Sunday said former President Trump has only himself to blame for his recent federal indictment over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

“Former President Trump has no one to blame but himself for being federally, criminally indicted,” Coons said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“All of the charges arise from his misconduct, his alleged misconduct, after receiving a federal criminal subpoena to produce classified documents, critical national security documents relating to our nuclear defense, to our nation’s potential response to an attack, that he then spoke with his attorneys about concealing or destroying,” Coons said.

Trump was indicted last week on 37 counts in the DOJ’s documents probe.

Coons on Sunday also said Trump “behaved in ways markedly different from former Vice President Pence or President Biden.” Biden is also being looked at for his handling of classified materials, and the Justice Department concluded its investigation into Pence’s document handling without bringing charges.

“And it is a sad day … for a former president of the United States to be federally criminally charged. But the basis of the rule of law in our democracy is that no man is above the law,” Coons said.

That sentiment was shared by several of the senator’s fellow Democrats in Congress after news of the indictment broke.