The Ex-President’s Crisis in the Wild: Trump’s Challenges to the Biden Term and the Trump-Bannon Campaign
But the ex-president launched a characteristic effort to discredit attempts to call him to account, trying to intimidate prosecutors, mobilize his grassroots supporters and pressure top GOP officials to rally to his side. Every American has a constitutional right to political self-expression, but the ex-president’s call this weekend for his loyalists – “Protest, take our nation back” – struck an ominous tone since he showed on January 6, 2021, that he was willing to incite violence to further his interests.
Trump dropped his clearest hint yet Saturday of a new White House run at a moment when he’s on a new collision course with the Biden administration, the courts and facts.
Trump never really went away after losing reelection in 2020, but a dizzying catalog of confrontations is vaulting him back into the center of US politics. It is likely to deepen the divide in the nation. The early stages of the presidential race and next month’s elections will likely be affected by Trump’s chaotic style.
Controversies that are coming to a head underscore that the nation and its political and legal systems are still far from dealing with and moving on from the shock and awe fallout of Trump’s turbulent single White House term. GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, alluded to that reality when she said on Sunday that the panel wants to avoid Trump turning his potential testimony into a “circus.”
Even though the ex-president was in office for four years, there were still many political and legal issues surrounding him that could effect his presidential ambitions in the future.
While fierce differences are emerging between the two parties over policy on the economy, abortion, foreign policy and crime in the next few years, there is at least one thing in common: the former president’s past and future.
Trump’s men and women are also stepping up their activity. Bannon is going to expose the Biden regime in his appeal against a prison sentence handed down last week for disobeying a congressional subpoena. Lindsey Graham wants the Supreme court to stop an attempt to force him to testify about a campaign that stole the election.
The Case Against Trump in 2020: Investigating Ex-President Kari Lake, a Serial Spreader of Election Fraud Falsehoods
In Arizona, one of the ex-President’s favorite candidates, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Kari Lake – a serial spreader of voter fraud falsehoods – is again raising doubts about the election system. “I’m afraid that it probably is not going to be completely fair,” Lake told AZTV7 on Sunday.
If the Republicans take control of the House in the upcoming election, it will mean a return of Trumpism to political power, as the ex- President holds on to the House GOP. Some leading Republicans want to impeach Biden over a potential clash with Trump in 2024 and they are already using their power to do so.
An already pro-Trump Republican presence in Washington is likely to expand after the midterms. Scores of Trump-endorsed candidates are running on a platform of his 2020 election fraud falsehoods, raising questions over whether they will accept results should they lose their races in just over two weeks.
As of the weekend, Trump had not received any official notification that he will be charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat. But a grand jury process appears to be in its final stages and Trump’s legal team has been preparing for the possibility of an indictment, sources have told CNN.
The Democrats are trying to return Trump to the forefront of politics. Presidential candidate Joe Biden equated supporters of Trump’s administration with fascists, and some campaigns tried to frighten voters by warning they are a danger to democracy.
The party in power in Washington may suffer bad news if voters head to the polls with inflation and gasoline prices high.
Why the Ex-President Will Have to Run for the White House, and Why: A Debate on the Case for a New White House
The ex-President told supporters at a rally in Texas on Saturday regarding the possibility of a new White House bid, “I will probably have to do it again.”
Cheney said on “Meet the Press” that it would be done with a level of rigor and discipline that it deserved.
“This isn’t going to be, you know, his first debate against Joe Biden and the circus and the food fight that that became. There is a lot of issues here.
Trump offered a glimpse of how he might use an appearance before the committee to create a political extravaganza after the panel announced it would send out the subpoena. He made several false and discredited claims in a 14-page letter and lashed out at the panel itself, branding them a bunch of political hacks and scum who have their sole function destroyed the lives of many hard working Americans.
The committee has taken most depositions behind closed doors and on video and used testimony throughout its highly produced presentations. Only its most sympathetic witnesses have appeared in person. While this has helped create a powerful narrative that has painted a shocking picture of Trump’s failure to perform his duties, it also deprived viewers of seeing witnesses under oath. It is difficult to assess whether the case would be accepted by the court of law if it were more rigorous.
The prospect of video testimony over an intense period of days or hours is likely to be unappealing to the former President because it would be harder for him to dictate the terms of the exchanges and control how his testimony might be used.
This could all become academic anyway. The issue could drag on for months and become pointless if a new Republican majority sweeps the January 6 committee away, since a new Republican House majority would likely sweep the January 6 committee away.
If there is evidence a crime was committed, Garland would face a dilemma over whether the national interest lay in implementing the law to its full extent or whether the consequences of prosecuting a former commander in chief in a fractious political atmosphere could tear the country apart.
If an ex- president were to run for the White House again he would be charged with a crime. But sparing him from accountability if there’s evidence of a crime would send a damaging signal to future presidents with strongman instincts.
Timothy Heaphy told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on “Erin Burnett OutFront” that “unless there is information inconsistent, which I don’t expect, I think there will likely be indictments both in Georgia and at the federal level.”
In Georgia, the foreperson of the Atlanta-based grand jury that investigated former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election told CNN on Tuesday that the panel is recommending multiple indictments and suggested “the big name” may be on the list.
The grand jury met for about seven months in Atlanta and heard testimony from 75 witnesses, including some of Trump’s closest advisers from his final weeks in the White House.
The Fulton County District Attorney has the authority to make charging decisions after the grand jury is over. Willis’ decisions in this case will reverberate in the 2024 presidential campaign and beyond.
They were present for lots of important events. The special counsel would like to hear from the president about his understanding of the election results. And they both had direct communications with him about the events preceding the riot at the Capitol,” he said.
The special counsel has a massive amount of evidence already in-hand that it now needs to comb through, including evidence recently turned over by the House January 6 committee, subpoena documents provided by local officials in key states and discovery collected from lawyers for Trump allies late last year in a flurry of activity, at least some of which had not been reviewed as of early January, sources familiar with the investigation told CNN at the time.
“He will not stop because of a family relationship, because of purported executive privilege,” Heaphy said of Smith. “He believes that the law entitles him to all of that information, and he’s determined to get it.”
What was once considered to be an idea of an ex-president and 2024 candidate being criminally charged has become a reality after Trump predicted he could be arrested this week. It showed America is headed for a political battle that will affect his influence over the GOP.
The property developer, ex-reality TV star and former commander in chief facing multiple investigations after seeking to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents after leaving office His most immediate exposure may be the case over Stormy Daniels’ alleged hush money payment.
The case revolves around whether Trump illegally covered up a $130,000 payment made by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to Daniels to keep quiet an alleged past relationship ahead of the 2016 election. The episode may be an abuse of campaign finance law. Trump denied having an affair and said he didn’t do anything wrong.
Trump lawyer Alina Habba told CNN’s Paula Reid Sunday there would be serious consequences if Trump were to be indicted for a mere misdemeanor – one possible outcome of the Manhattan probe. It’s going to make a lot of people angry, Paula. Habba said it was a very scary time in the country. But she also said that “no one wants anyone to get hurt” and Trump supporters should be “peaceful.”
— An indictment would potentially upend the 2024 Republican presidential primary, with Trump browbeating opponents to support his claims of innocence and portraying any failure to do so as siding with what he sees as a partisan investigation for political gain. Neither Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential Republican candidate, nor former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is already in the race, have yet commented on a situation that presents them with a dicey dilemma. Both would be very interested in preventing the primary campaign from revolving around Trump, who is seen as a political martyr.
Trump has allies in the House who have attacked Bragg because of his attempts to distract from the allegations against him.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday called it “the weakest case out there.” The California Republican, who has instructed GOP-led committees to investigate whether the Manhattan DA used federal funds to probe the hush money payment, said at a news conference that he had already spoken to Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan – who is investigating “the weaponization” of the government against political opponents – about looking into that question.
The political investigation of Trump is political: Are we ready for it? Sen. Mark Kelly and CNN’s Jake Tapper on CNN on State of the Union
But the speaker also said people should not protest over what may or not happen and insisted that Trump didn’t want that either. “If this is to happen we want calmness out there … no violence or harm to anyone else,” McCarthy said.
Several of Trump’s Republican critics lined up to support him after his social media post. The political prosecution of Trump feels like a political prosecution, said the former Vice President in an interview with ABC News. I feel like the American people do not want to see that.
New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who has said it is time for Republicans to move on from Trump, told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” the Bragg investigation was “building a lot of sympathy for the former president.” He added: “I (had) coffee this morning with some folks, and none of them were big Trump supporters, but they all said they felt like he was being attacked.”
There is an issue of whether the political division caused by putting Trump on trial would be in the national interest, in a case that seems to have less long term constitutional implications than the January 6 investigations. History may not look kindly on any failed prosecution.
Even as the nation faces another White House campaign, the Daniels case could still cause questions for the public since it dates back to an election that is now more than six years old. Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” on Sunday that “nobody in our nation is or should be above the law.” But he also said: “I would hope that, if they brought charges, that they have a strong case, because this is … unprecedented. There are risks involved.