US is going to hell: Donald Trump in first post-indictment address

"The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it," he added

The United States is going to hell, said former President Donald Trump in a jibe at Joe Biden's administration while addressing a public gathering on Tuesday night.

Addressing supporters from his Mar-a-Lago property, Trump mentioned the Hunter Biden's laptop scandal saying, "The FBI and Department of Justice in collusion with Twitter and Facebook in order not to say anything bad about the Hunter Biden laptop from hell, which exposes the Biden family as criminals and which, according to the pollsters would have made a 17 point difference in the election result, we needed a lot less than that, 16.9, it would have been in our favour because our country is going to hell."

The 76-year-old, who has pleaded 'not guilty' to 34 felony counts in a New York court, has also claimed that the Democrats spied on his campaign.

"This could happen in America. Never thought it could happen. The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it. From the beginning, the Democrats spied on my campaign. Remember that? They attacked me with an onslaught of fraudulent investigations," Trump said.

"Russia, Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine.Impeachment hoax number one.Impeachment hoax number two.The illegal and unconstitutional raid on Mar a Lago right here.The lying to the Pfizer courts. The FBI and DOJ relentlessly pursuing Republicans, the unconstitutional changes to election laws by not getting approvals from state legislators, the millions of votes illegally stuffed into ballot boxes and all caught on government cameras," he added.

Donald Trump, who was in New York for his arraignment, was charged with three pre-election hush-money cases.

Trump faces criminal charges for his alleged role in 36 felony criminal charges including the hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign to conceal an alleged affair that he has constantly denied.

In the statement, the attorney mentioned three instances of the 'catch and kill' scheme in Donald Trump's indictment.

"In one instance, American Media Inc. ("AMI"), paid USD 30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman, who claimed to have a story about a child TRUMP had out of wedlock," Bragg said in a statement.

The attorney also stated that the AMI paid USD 150,000 was paid to the woman who claimed to have a sexual relationship with Trump. And former President asked his lawyer to reimburse AMI in cash.

AMI admitted its conduct was unlawful in an agreement with federal prosecutors and made false entries in its business records concerning the true purpose of the USD 150,000 payment."In a third instance - 12 days before the presidential general election - the Special Counsel wired USD 130,000 to an attorney for an adult film actress. The Special Counsel, who has since pleaded guilty and served time in prison for making the illegal campaign contribution, made the payment through a shell corporation funded through a bank in Manhattan," the statement read.

Bragg also said during the 2016 election, Trump and others employed a "catch and kill" scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects.