2023-07-18 23:14:36
Concordance of times: while the pre-trial conference for the trial of Donald Trump for illegal storage of secret documents in his Mar-a-Lago residence began on Tuesday in Florida, the former American president indicated that he had received from the special prosecutor Jack Smith a letter confirming that he is indeed the target of a judicial investigation for his participation in the attack on the Capitol, January 6, 2021.
On his Truth Social network, the Republican complained of having received this letter “on a Sunday evening”, through his lawyers, while saying, in passing, the victim of a new “witch hunt “, piloted by Joe Biden and aimed at harming his political career. The document offers him the opportunity to testify before a grand jury in Washington, which is scheduled to meet later this week. What he should refuse to do.
This type of letter usually precedes an indictment and could indicate that Jack Smith is about to sue the ex-president for his contribution to the riot that targeted the dome of American democracy. Harangued by Donald Trump, the crowd then violently stormed the building in the hope of overturning the result of the 2020 presidential election according to which the victory went to Democrat Joe Biden and thus to illegally keep the populist in power.
Last week, a group of American legal experts established that there was enough evidence to prosecute the former American president in court for this failed coup attempt. On Tuesday, on his social network, Donald Trump defended himself by claiming to have done nothing more than to protest against elections which, he always repeats without foundation, were fraudulent. What the Constitution of the United States gives him the right to do, he specified. This electoral fraud has never been confirmed by facts.
In the wake of his announcement, Donald Trump sent an email on Tuesday to his followers to be indignant at the letter received and especially to call on them to contribute financially to his electoral campaign. “Nothing like this has ever happened in our country,” he wrote.
On Tuesday, the usual voices came together in defense of the ex-president. “It’s the only way the Democrats can defeat [Donald] Trump: arrest him, smear him and bring ridiculous charges against him,” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a conspiratorial Trumpist, tweeted. Kevin McCarthy, Republican Majority Speaker in the House of Representatives, also accused Democrats of “instrumentalizing justice” to “pursue an opponent” as the latter “climbs in the polls” and “surpasses Biden in the campaign at his re-election,” he said.
A recent YouGov poll unveiled last week by The Economist rather gives the two candidates neck and neck, with 42% of the voting intentions each.
Rare discordant statement in the Republican camp, the ex-governor of Arkansas and candidate in the race for the Republican nomination for the presidential election of 2024 Asa Hutchinson called on the ex-president to withdraw from the race, believing that this new prospect of an accusation for insurrection should “disqualify” him in his quest for a new presidential mandate.
“Donald Trump would like the American people to believe they are the victim in this case, but the truth is that the real victim of January 6 was our democracy. [et] our rule of law […], he said in a statement. Anyone who truly loves this country and is willing to put it above their personal interests would immediately suspend their campaign for president. It is disappointing that Donald Trump refuses to do so,” he added.
The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, the billionaire’s closest rival for the nomination, for his part was a little more complacent towards the ex-president by admitting that he should have been “heard a bit louder” to prevent the attack on the Capitol. “But trying to criminalize that is a whole different matter,” he said, quoted by the Washington Post.
For several weeks, the judicial noose has tightened around the former American president, arrested and brought to justice twice. In New York, he will have to face charges of falsification of documents in a case of payment of a bribe aimed at silencing a witness in a history of morals. In Florida, he was charged with unlawfully keeping secret documents at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago and refusing to cooperate in their return. Many of these documents have the potential to put the country’s security at risk.
The man is also in the crosshairs of justice in Georgia and Arizona for trying to change the polling results in his favor after his 2020 loss.
So far, Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him. The Republican seeks for the third time to obtain his entry ticket to the White House for the presidential election of 2024. In the race for the nomination of his party, the many candidates who face him are all behind, and him in front.
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