Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley expressed dismay on Sunday at the allegations made against former President Donald Trump in special counsel Jack Smith's new superseding indictment in the classified documents case.
Trump faces 40 total counts in the Justice Department's classified documents case against him, which Smith said in May were related to "felony violations of our national security laws as well as participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice.” Smith is separately investigating the former president over his handling of his 2020 election loss, and is reported to be considering charges in that case.
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He initially faced 37 counts, though Smith added three additional charges this past week. The former president is now accused of attempting to delete security footage at his Mar-a-Lago property along with maintenance worker Carlos De Oliveira and his other co-defendant, Walt Nauta. Trump has slammed the charges as politically motivated.
“I mean, none of that sounds good,” Haley told CBS’s Face the Nation. “The same way it didn’t sound good when Hillary [Clinton] erased her emails. It doesn’t matter if you’re Republican or Democrat. It doesn’t matter if you’re Hillary or if you’re Trump. You shouldn’t be erasing anything unless you have something to hide.”
Haley did not solely criticize her 2024 rival during the Sunday interview. The former South Carolina governor refused to say if she trusted the Justice Department, instead vowing that as president, she would "clean it up from the top."
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“Everybody needs to be treated the same way,” she said. “And that’s what the American people are frustrated about. It’s not that they don’t want people held accountable. They just want everyone to be treated fairly, and right now, they don’t trust the Department of Justice.”
Republicans have argued in recent months that the former president's numerous indictments and Hunter Biden's plea deal have served as proof of a two-tiered justice system that treats conservatives unfairly. Despite this, a number of GOP candidates and lawmakers have criticized Trump's behavior in the classified documents and Jan. 6 matters.