Former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles intensified when he said he will face federal criminal charges related to his attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election.
“I’ve heard that in order to interfere in the 2024 presidential election, at 5 p.m. the deranged Jack Smith will be issuing another false denunciation against your favorite president, me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account Tuesday afternoon. .
‘Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted to put it in the middle of my campaign. Prosecution misconduct!’
He already faces 40 federal charges in Florida related to his handling of sensitive government documents after his term in office, and will face trial next year in New York for falsifying business records after making a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The criminal cases have plunged the country into uncharted legal and political territory as Trump accuses prosecutors of trying to derail his election campaign.
The latest expected indictment comes amid a slew of investigations into the events of January 6, 2020, when Trump supporters clashed with police and overran the U.S. Capitol, and the way the then-President tried to reverse the result to make.
Special Counsel Jack Smith (right) has led the federal investigation into former President Donald Trump and his attempts to stay in power after the 2020 election
More than 1,000 people accused of taking part in the January 6 riots have been charged
The former president added in a follow-up post, “And why are they issuing another bogus indictment the day after the Crooked Joe Biden SCANDAL, one of the largest in American history, broke out in the Halls of Congress??? A nation in decline!’
He referred Monday to the testimony of Hunter Biden’s business partner, Devon Archer, who said then-Vice President Joe attended at least 20 business meetings with his son and his foreign associates. Republicans are considering launching an impeachment inquiry for the president based on Archer’s revelations and whistleblower accounts.
Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed last year to lead the federal investigation.
In June, he filed suit in the documents case while continuing to present evidence to a grand jury in Washington D.C. on January 6
Trump has always denied wrongdoing.
But he revealed a few weeks ago that he had received a letter from the Justice Department saying he was a target of the Jan. 6 investigation.
Such letters are generally an indication that the target will be charged.
“The deranged Jack Smith, the DA of Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter… stating that I am a target of the Jan. 6 grand jury investigation, and gave me a very short 4 days to report to the grand jury, which almost always results in an arrest and an indictment,” he posted on his Truth Social site.
Once again, the former president managed to blow up the news cycle and his rivals’ plans for 2024 by revealing the latest legal twist himself.
He added in capital letters, “This witch hunt is all about election interference and a full and total political arming of law enforcement.”
Smith, whose most recent role has been prosecuting war crimes, has cast a wide net on Trump’s attempts to stay in power. That includes investigating lawyers who pushed for results to be reversed, proposals to seize voting machines, fundraising for the Jan. 6 protest, as well as a plan to use a list of “fake voters” in a campaign by Joe Biden won states to disrupt the certification process.
Trump revealed he was being targeted by investigators in a dramatic Truth Social post
Jared Kushner (left), Trump’s son-in-law who served as White House adviser, and Rudy Giuliani (right), Trump’s personal attorney, have spoken with prosecutors
They interviewed Trump Vice President Mike Pence, who was pressured to reject the 2020 result, adviser Rudy Giuliani and local election officials.
So far, none of the allegations seem to have undermined Trump’s dominance in the Republican Party.
He remains the clear frontrunner to secure his 2024 nomination and has used the indictment to raise money and fuel anger among his supporters.
Several rivals even jumped to his aid, as part of an elaborate dance, trying to woo voters tired of Trump’s drama while simultaneously trying not to alienate his supporters.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Trump should have done more to stop the violence on Jan. 6, but said it did not amount to criminal activity.
Appearing in federal court in Miami last month, Trump faced 37 charges related to charges of illegally keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida
Let me be very clear: I did nothing wrong. I am completely innocent,” said one.
“This is just another vicious act of election interference on behalf of the deep state to try to keep the silent majority from having a voice in your own country.”
It’s part of a well-known playbook that has helped Trump raise millions of dollars for each set of charges.
And more legal challenges could follow. Prosecutors in Georgia are also investigating Trump and his allies over allegations of election interference in the state.