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“This is the highest level of election interference,” Trump said in a video posted on his social media platform TruthSocial. He said he was innocent and he would prove it.
Seeking re-election in the White House, President Trump has been aggressively fundraising from his growing legal troubles, continuing the practice on Thursday, and these are enemies trying to rig the election against him. It continues to suggest without evidence that it is an extension of the efforts of His overall strategy mirrored his approach after his last indictment, in which he pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records in New York earlier this year. This development and his reaction helped strengthen his position within the Republican Party, in part by infuriating his loyal base.
Rivals’ reactions on Thursday bolstered some of the claims he was making. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who ranks second in the Republican nomination polls behind the former president, also offered a similar opinion used by Trump and his allies.
“The weaponization of federal law enforcement poses a deadly threat to the free society,” DeSantis said in a statement. He accused government officials of being “enthusiastic about pursuing Trump” and “passive” toward Democrat Hillary Clinton and Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
“The DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the Justice Department, remove political bias, and end weaponization once and for all,” he added.
Former New Jersey governor and presidential candidate Chris Christie has positioned himself as uniquely capable of attacking Trump. Said “No one is above the law,” he said on Twitter, adding, “I have more to say when the facts come out.”
On Thursday night, many Republicans jumped to the former president’s defense, and one of his leading rivals in the race for the GOP nomination, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, said that if elected, “Trump will immediately be on January 20, 2025.” I pardon the president.”
The party-wide reaction is that Trump remains in power within the Republican party despite facing a growing legal crisis, and an allegation that could provoke fierce condemnation from conservative voters. It highlighted what rivals see as a political risk to putting Mr. Trump in office. Some rivals have stepped up their attacks on Mr Trump on other fronts, but have been hesitant to attack him over legal issues.
DeSantis, once a close ally of Mr. Trump and trying to win the support of the former president’s voters, was hit by some right-wingers earlier this year when Mr. Trump refused to be heard on the day he was indicted in New York. faced backlash from The Florida governor ultimately accused prosecutors of political motives, but also launched a covert attack on Trump, specifically referring to the “porn star hush money” allegation at the heart of the case. ”
The new accusations come at a time when a field of Republican presidential candidates has taken steps to criticize Mr. Trump, but they also threaten to split the vote for him and ease his way to the presidency.
Trump had already used the indictment to fundraise by sending small donors an email titled “Breaking News: Indicted” on Thursday night. He told donors he would donate at least $24 “to stand up peacefully with me today and gain 1,500% of my influence to prove you will never hand over our country to the radical left.” I asked.
The former president’s charges include illegal possession of government secrets, obstruction of justice and collusion, according to people familiar with the matter. The case stems from the discovery of hundreds of classified documents that were taken to Trump’s private residence in Palm Beach, Florida, after he left the White House.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson stood out among the 2024 Republican nominees as she again called on President Trump to call off the campaign.
“From his willful disregard for the Constitution to his disregard for the rule of law, Donald Trump’s actions should not define our country or the Republican Party,” he said in a statement. “Today is a sad day for our country.”
Senator Tim Scott (RS.C.), who has refrained from attacking Trump since entering the campaign, told Fox News: As president, he said he would “purge all injustice and impurity from our system” and “will continue to pray for justice to prevail.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has stepped up his criticism of President Trump as he announces his presidential campaign this week, said earlier in the day at a campaign stop in Iowa, “No one is above the law. “But if the Justice Department moves forward with the law,” he said. He hoped the unprecedented indictment of the former US president would “send a terrifying message to the wider world by meeting a high threshold of justification for what could be a divisive act within the country.”
Democrats united on Thursday with the message they sent earlier this year following the indictment in New York: “No one is above the law.”
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-California), who was Trump’s manager in the first impeachment and won the former impeachment, said, “Trump has been indicted on multiple charges stemming from his possession of classified material. This is a new affirmation of the rule of law,” he tweeted. I hate the president. “For four years he acted like he was above the law. But he should be treated like any other lawbreaker. And today he is.”
The White House declined to comment Thursday night on the allegations and referred the investigation to the Justice Department.
Early Thursday morning, before President Trump announced the indictment, President Biden asked reporters what he could say to “persuade” the American public that they should “trust in the independence and impartiality of the Justice Department.” was taken.
Among the Republicans who immediately defended Trump was Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who appeared to hint at the charges. Tweet “There are no limits to what these people can do to protect their power,” the paper said. Sen. Josh Hawley (Missouri) similarly claimed, without evidence, that Biden “used” the Justice Department to “prosecute his greatest political opponents.”
In a video statement, President Trump said he was innocent and said the charges were the latest in many unjustified attacks. He continues to falsely claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him and continues his campaign with promises of “retaliation” for those who wronged him and his supporters.
“I am innocent,” he said Thursday. “We’ll prove it again. We’ll take seven years to prove it and we’ll do it again here. It’s very unfair, but that’s the way it is.”
Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager, Mariana Alfaro, and Marianne Levine contributed to this report.
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