New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu pushed back on claims from fellow Republican lawmakers who have called the federal indictment against former President Donald Trump for his handling of classified documents politically motivated, saying it was "self-inflicted."
"I don't see this as being political," Sununu said in an interview with "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "The average person may still think it's political."
Trump is charged with 37 felony counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House in January 2021. In the indictment that was unsealed Friday, the Justice Department alleged Trump kept the classified documents in boxes stored at Mar-a-Lago, including in a bathroom and shower, a ballroom and his bedroom. The documents allegedly contained information on U.S. nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the U.S. and its allies to a military attack and plans for potential retaliation in response to an attack, according to the indictment.
"The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods," the indictment said.
The former president, who denies any wrongdoing, is also alleged to have shown the classified documents to others who did not have a security clearance to be able to view them and also to have obstructed the National Archives and Records Administration and the Justice Department's efforts to recover the documents.
Sununu said that if even half of allegations in the indictment are true, then Trump has "a real problem."
"He had every chance in the world to hand all those files and documents back," Sununu said. "He did just the opposite. He bragged about keeping him. So this is very self-inflicted."
Sununu, who decided against running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, encouraged Trump's Republican opponents to rally together in condemning the former president.
"They have to come out and acknowledge this is different, this is serious," he said. "I just see too many of the candidates trying to walk around it — 'We'll see what happens.' … You're running against this guy. He's whopping you by 40 points. Everybody needs to come out in concert. So it's not just Chris Christie hitting Donald Trump. … It is a party message. That is very, very important because Donald Trump doesn't represent the Republican Party. He only represents himself."
Instead, Trump's 2024 challengers have largely criticized the Biden administration and the Justice Department.
Although Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is seen as Trump's greatest rival, initally said the "weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society," he had more forceful words at a campaign event in North Carolina on Friday.
"Look when I was in Congress, I remember, you know, Hillary had the the emails with the classified, and my view was, well gee, you know, as a naval officer, if I would have taken classified to my apartment, I would have been court martialed in a New York minute," DeSantis said. "And yet they seem to not care about that. And is there a different standard for a Democrat Secretary of State versus a former Republican president? I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country. Let's enforce it on everybody and make sure we all know the rules. You can't have one faction of society weaponizing the power of the state against factions that it doesn't like and that's what you see."
On Thursday, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina also slammed what he called the weaponization of the Justice Department. Former Vice President Mike Pence said it was sad day for the country. Nikki Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador under Trump, called it "prosecutorial overreach." And businessman Vivek Ramaswamy vowed to pardon Trump if he's elected.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie argued the alleged conduct shows Trump is not a formidable opponent to President Joe Biden, while former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson called on Trump to end his campaign.
Jake Rosen, Melissa Quinn, Robert Legare and Sarah Ewall-Wice contributed reporting.
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hausofcait
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