Elon Musk suggests Trump’s indictment is targeted – and warns that the justice system is in danger of losing confidence
Elon Musk suggested that the bombshell indictment of former President Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents could be a politically motivated attack.
The billionaire Twitter owner warned that the frontrunner’s arrest in 2024 sets a dangerous precedent that could erode public confidence in the justice system if politicians are treated differently.
“There seems to be a lot more interest in following Trump than other people in politics,” he tweeted Friday.
“Very important that the legal system refute what appears to be differentiated enforcement, otherwise they will lose public trust.”
Twitter owner Elon Musk, pictured in May 2023, weighed in on the indictment of former President Donald Trump, warning it risks undermining public confidence in the justice system
Musk tweeted that Trump is being pursued with a “much higher interest” than other politicians
Musk’s comments came after Trump made history as the first former president to face federal charges, just months after he was also charged in New York over a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The former president faces more than 100 years behind bars on a slew of federal charges related to mishandling classified information.
The 76-year-old said Thursday he was told he was being charged with espionage — the first time in US history a former president has faced federal charges.
Trump faces four separate charges each carrying a potential 20-year prison sentence: conspiracy to obstruct justice; withholding any document or record; corruptly concealing any document or record; and hiding a document in a federal investigation.
One count carries a 10-year prison sentence: deliberately withholding national defense information.
And the last two counts each have a maximum of five years: plan to conceal and misrepresentations and misrepresentations.
Trump denied his charges, insisting he is an “innocent man.” Pictured is him speaking at the White House in May 2020
Trump took to Truth Social to hit back at the prosecution, arguing that his rival president Joe Biden should be investigated for the same crimes he is accused of
The charges were announced Thursday night by Trump in a furious diatribe posted on his social media site Truth Social.
“The corrupt Biden administration has informed my lawyers that I have been charged, apparently over the Boxes Hoax, even though Joe Biden has 1,850 Boxes at the University of Delaware,” he said.
(There are) additional boxes in Chinatown, D.C., with even more boxes at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents scattered on his garage floor where he parks his Corvette, and which is “secured” by only a paper-thin garage door and often open.’
Trump alluded to allegations that Joe Biden had also mishandled classified material, with the president’s own legal team reporting that they had found a small number of documents in his Delaware home and a DC think tank.
Later on Thursday, he posted a video that the New York Times said was pre-recorded, in which he made the allegations and insisted he was “innocent.”
“Unfortunately we are a nation in decline and yet they are chasing after a very popular president,” Trump said.
“I’m an innocent man, I’ve done nothing wrong,” he continued, promising to “fight this out.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Trump also said he would “of course” plead not guilty.
Security around the Miami courthouse is already being heightened ahead of his appearance before a judge, scheduled for 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
Trump is accused of mishandling classified documents. Pictured: A stack of boxes stored in the ballroom of the Mar-a-Lago estate
An FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August found a trove of classified documents (pictured)
News of his indictment was met with outrage from Trump’s fellow Republicans, with even his main 2024 rival, Ron DeSantis, declaring that “the arming of federal law enforcement poses a mortal threat to a free society.”
However, the Florida governor did not say whether he would pardon Trump if convicted.
“For years we have witnessed an uneven application of the law depending on political affiliation,” he said.
Why so zealous about chasing Trump yet so passive about Hillary or Hunter? The DeSantis administration will be accountable to the DOJ, excise political bias, and end armaments once and for all.”
With some GOP lawmakers seemingly unsure whether to speak out shortly after the indictment, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy led the way by jumping to Trump’s defense and labeling the indictment as “a dark day for the United States of America.” ‘.
“It is unconscionable for a president to indict the leading candidate against him. Joe Biden kept classified documents for decades,” he continued.
“I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice.
“House Republicans will call to account this brutal weaponization of power.”
Ron DeSantis defended his 2024 Republican rival Donald Trump, but did not say whether he would pardon him if elected president
Jack Smith was appointed special counsel in November to investigate Trump’s handling of classified information
Prosecutors have been investigating the transfer of presidential files to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida since last year.
The investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents is overseen by a special counsel, Jack Smith, who was appointed in November by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
In response to Smith’s landmark decision to prosecute, Trump lashed out at the lawyer, labeling him a “deranged psychopath.”
Trump linked him to an IRS “targeting” scandal, calling him a “Trump Hater,” while claiming he should instead be investigating his rival president Joe Biden.
“This is the man who caused the Lois Lerner disaster with the IRS. He went after Evangelicals and Great Americans of Faith,” Trump said, referring to Smith’s time as head of DOJ’s Public Integrity Section amid the IRS investigations of Tea Party groups.
“His wife is a Trump Hater, just as he is a Trump Hater – a deranged “psycho” who should not be involved with “Justice” under any circumstances except to consider Biden a criminal, which he is!” Trump smoked.