Donald Trump remains in denial of all accusations as conviction looms large

Former US president Donald Trump Friday refuted any accusations of misconduct related to his handling of security tapes requested by federal investigators, Reuters reported, even after new charges that accuse him of instructing employees at his Florida resort to delete the videos.

As the leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, Trump addressed the issue during an interview with conservative radio host John Fredericks.

He asserted that he believed he was not obligated to surrender the security tapes from his Mar-a-Lago resort; nevertheless, he chose to comply with the request.

"These were security tapes. We handed them over to them. ... I'm not even sure what they're saying," he said.

US Special Counsel Jack Smith filed three new criminal counts against Trump on Thursday, bringing the total to 40, and charged a maintenance worker at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, Carlos De Oliveira, with conspiracy to obstruct justice, accusing him of helping Trump to hide documents.

De Oliveira, 56, told another worker at the resort where Trump lives that "the boss" wanted security videos of the property in Florida deleted after the Justice Department subpoenaed them.

Prosecutors also charged De Oliveira with lying to the FBI during a voluntary interview, falsely claiming he had no involvement in moving boxes of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

De Oliveira's lawyer did not respond to a Reuters' request for comment.

"They went after two fine employees yesterday, fine people," Trump said. "They're trying to intimidate people so that people go out and make up lies about me. Because I did nothing wrong."

Trump also said he would not end his 2024 presidential campaign if he is convicted and sentenced on the various charges against him.