特拉华州民主党参议员克里斯·库恩斯周日表示，他认为唐纳德·特朗普的联邦起诉书对机密记录的过度处理给共和党在2024年的选举制造了麻烦，同时，他承认有些担心特朗普的白宫前景.
“我认为，共和党人面临的挑战是向美国人民解释，鉴于特朗普总统随意甚至冷酷无情的表现，他们为什么相信他应该连任对重要国家安全文件的不当处理总统乔·拜登的亲密盟友库恩斯对美国广播公司“本周”节目主持人乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯说。
“这不是一个谁无意中保留了一些文件的小案件，”库恩斯说。“他被指控故意隐瞒，故意保留对我们的国防至关重要的联邦文件。”
特朗普在佛罗里达州的联邦案件中被控37项罪名，指控他“故意”保留包含敏感美国机密的文件，并阴谋妨碍司法公正，因为政府试图在特朗普离开白宫后检索记录。
这是美国前总统第一次被指控犯有联邦罪行。
特朗普一再否认有不当行为，并于上周在社交媒体上表示自己是无辜的。他将于周二在迈阿密接受传讯。他说，如果被判有罪，他仍将继续争取2024年入主白宫。
在《本周》中，库恩斯提到共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆对特朗普的激烈辩护在节目早些时候的一次采访中，他说，“有一件事我同意参议员格雷厄姆的观点:前总统特朗普有权被推定无罪。在我们的制度下，任何被指控犯有联邦罪行的人都有权获得正当法律程序、有效的代理和无罪推定。”
但库恩斯也强调，检察官提出的针对特朗普的案件“明显”不同于格雷厄姆提出的两个例子，格雷厄姆说特朗普受到了不平等的待遇。与前副总统迈克·彭斯和总统乔·拜登不同，特朗普在离任时都保留了机密记录，据称特朗普阻挠政府检索他们想要回来的敏感记录。
“这是起诉的基础，”库恩斯说。“乔治，对于一位美国前总统来说，受到联邦政府的刑事指控是令人悲伤的一天。但是在我们的民主中，法治的基础是任何人都不能凌驾于法律之上。”
美国广播公司新闻，司法部告诉彭斯，他们不会对他提出指控以前报告过。对拜登处理机密记录的调查正在进行中。
尽管格雷厄姆和其他共和党人在特朗普被起诉后争论不休，但库恩斯说，“我认为没有证据表明联邦司法部已经被武器化。”
具体来说，他说起诉川普的特别顾问杰克·史密斯以前起诉过一些知名的民主党政治家，包括前总统候选人约翰·爱德华兹和纽约州议员谢尔登·西尔弗。史密斯还领导了DOJ的公共诚信部门。
“前总统特朗普被联邦政府刑事起诉，除了他自己没有人可以责怪，”库恩斯说。
他还批评特朗普和共和党总统候选人，他说，他们将执法行为妖魔化，而不是反思特朗普案件引发的对国家安全的担忧。
拜登没有对特朗普的第二项指控发表任何评论，库恩斯表示，拜登的重点将是在连任竞选中“为美国人民取得真正的成果”。
当斯特凡诺普洛斯指出民调显示拜登落后于特朗普或两人在总统竞选中几乎打成平手时，库恩斯承认了这一点，并说:“鉴于(特朗普)的行为和他的记录，我认为我们应该担心。”
库恩斯说:“我认为乔·拜登在这次竞选中要做的最好的事情就是通过继续解决大问题来继续展示他是一个有效和有能力的总统。”
“尽管他的对手提出了一些建议，但他很敏锐，很有技巧，他将继续作为我们的总统发挥领导作用，”他说，“尽管前总统特朗普不断上升的法律问题分散了他的注意力。”
People should be 'worried' Trump could beat Biden, but 2nd indictment is big GOP challenge: Coons
Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons on Sunday said he thinks Donald Trump's federal indictment over handling of classified records creates electoral trouble for the GOP in 2024 -- and, at the same time, he admits some worry over Trump's White House prospects.
"I think the challenges here are for Republicans to explain to the American people why they are confident President Trump should be reelected, given his casual -- even callous -- mishandling of critical national security documents," Coons, a close ally of President Joe Biden, told ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos.
"This isn't a minor case of who kept a handful of documents inadvertently," Coons said. "He's been charged for knowingly and willingly concealing, that he retained willfully federal documents that were critical to our national defense."
Trump was indicted on 37 counts in the federal case in Florida, alleging he "willfully" retained documents containing sensitive U.S. secrets and conspired to obstruct justice as the government sought to retrieve the records after Trump left the White House.
This is the first time a former U.S. president has been charged with a federal crime.
Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said on social media last week that he is innocent. He will be arraigned in Miami on Tuesday. If convicted, he will still continue his bid for the White House in 2024, he's said.
On "This Week," Coons referred to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham's fiery defense of Trump in an interview earlier on the show and said, "There is one thing that I agree with Sen. Graham on here: Former President Trump is entitled to a presumption of innocence. Under our system, anyone who's charged with a federal crime is entitled to due process of law, to effective representation and to a presumption of innocence."
But Coons also stressed that the case against Trump, as laid out by prosecutors, "markedly" differs from two examples Graham raised to say Trump was being treated unequally. Unlike former Vice President Mike Pence and President Joe Biden, both of whom kept classified records while out of office, Trump allegedly stonewalled the government in retrieving the sensitive records they wanted back.
"That's the basis of this prosecution," Coons said. "And it is a sad day George 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."
The Department of Justice has told Pence they won't bring charges against him, ABC News previously reported. The investigation of Biden's handling of classified records is ongoing.
Despite what Graham and other Republicans are arguing in the wake of Trump's indictment, Coons said, "I think there's no evidence that the Federal Department of Justice has been weaponized."
Specifically, he said that special counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting Trump, previously prosecuted high-profile Democratic politicians including former presidential candidate John Edwards and New York state lawmaker Sheldon Silver. Smith also led the DOJ's public integrity section.
"Former President Trump has no one to blame but himself for being federally, criminally indicted," Coons said.
He also criticized Trump and Republican presidential candidates for, he said, villainizing law enforcement rather than reflecting on the concerns for national security raised by Trump's case.
Biden has not made any comment on Trump's second indictment, and Coons said Biden's focus will instead be on getting "real results for the American people" amid his reelection campaign.
When Stephanopoulos pointed to polling showing Biden trailing Trump or the two nearly tied in the presidential race, Coons acknowledged that and said, "I think we should be worried given [Trump's] conduct and given his record."
"I think the best thing for Joe Biden to do in this campaign is to keep showing that he is an effective and capable president by continuing to solve big problems," Coons said.
"Despite some suggestions by his opponents, he's sharp, he's skillful and he's continuing to lead as our president," he said, "despite the distractions of former President Trump's rising legal problems."
