CNN
—
Ex President Donald Trump He returns to the campaign trail Saturday to speak at two state Republican conventions in Georgia and North Carolina. His federal indictment The party is contesting the 2024 presidential election.
The pre-scheduled stops will come the next day for the judiciary dropped its charges Trump and Asst presented the government’s case Walt Nat Mishandling classified national security documents.
Trump’s speeches will mark his first public appearance since his second impeachment in less than three months, along with investigations into election interference efforts in Georgia and his actions surrounding them. January 6, 2021It threatens to cause more legal trouble in Washington.
The visits will give Trump a chance to respond to the allegations in campaign style as he engages in battles across political and legal circles. The former president is scheduled to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, where the charges against him will be read.
So far, Trump has framed his lawsuit as a politically motivated attempt to end his bid for the presidency. He described Special Counsel Jack Smith While alleging “confusion” and the case against him as a “hoax”. President Joe Biden Similarly mishandling classified documents.
“I had nothing to hide, and I don’t now. Nobody said I wasn’t allowed to see the personal records I brought from the White House. There’s nothing wrong with that,” he said Friday on his social media site, Truth Social.
Trump released a four-minute video Thursday evening in which he repeated several of his past claims, including that the Justice Department is up in arms and that investigations into him represent “election interference.”
“I am an innocent man. I did nothing wrong,” Trump said in the video.
The former president’s indictment on Thursday met with him at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, hoping it would pay off politically. Conservatives rallied around him.
Trump spent Friday morning in Bedminster Playing golf with Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez His allies made phone calls to the former president to offer support.
After the indictment was unsealed Friday, concerns began to settle, a source familiar with Bedminster’s state of mind told CNN, as Trump aides began to acknowledge the legal implications. His team still thinks Trump will benefit politically — at least in the short term — the source said, but aides are more cautious about how the charges will play out legally.
Trump has long avoided legal offense in his personal, professional and political life. He has settled several private civil cases over the years and has stayed out of controversies related to the Trump Organization. As president, he was Charged twice Punishment was avoided by the Democratic-led House but by the Senate.
But since leaving office, the Justice Department’s criminal investigations into Trump’s alleged hoarding of classified information at his Mar-a-Lago resort and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election have cast dark clouds over the former president. Smith’s trial on January 6, 2021 and efforts to change the election are still ongoing.
In March, the Manhattan District Attorney in New York Accused Trump Related to hush-payments to former adult star. In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis An announcement is expected in August Are there any allegations in his investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to subvert the 2020 election in the state?
On the campaign trail, many of Trump’s Republican 2024 presidential contenders Responding to news of his impeachment It’s another sign that they see favor among conservative primary voters in protecting a former president who is popular with the party’s base — by attacking the judiciary.
State of Florida Ron DeSantis He accused the DOJ on Thursday of “the weaponization of federal law enforcement,” while the president-elect pledged to “bring accountability to the DOJ, rid it of political bias and end weapons once and for all.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence He had called on the judiciary to issue a charge sheet against his former employer. After doing so, he did not comment on its contents while campaigning in New Hampshire.
Nikki HaleyThe former South Carolina governor and Trump’s United Nations ambassador in a statement on Friday characterized the indictment as a “prosecutorial oversight,” saying it was time to move “beyond endless drama and distractions.”
North Dakota Governor Doug BurgumA candidate who entered the GOP race earlier this week said Saturday that Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents is not something voters want to spend their time with.
“As we’ve spent the last two days in Iowa and here in New Hampshire talking about the economy, energy policy, national security — things that hit every American every day,” Burgum told Fox News.
Former New Jersey Governor. Chris ChristieAnother Trump ally and close adviser who has emerged as a key critic of Trump in the 2024 race described the details of the indictment as “ridiculous.”
“It was reckless behavior,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday, “and the behavior that Donald Trump engaged in was completely self-inflicted.”
“The big issue for our country is, is this the kind of behavior we want from someone who wants to be president of the United States?” Christie said.
Another Trump critic, former Arkansas Gov. Asa HutchinsonHe said the former president should withdraw from the race “for the good of the country”.
“This is unprecedented, for a former president to be criminally charged with obstruction of justice for mishandling classified information. This is obviously going to be an issue during the campaign,” Hutchinson told Tapper in a separate interview on Friday.
“For the good of the country, he does not need this distraction. The country does not need this distraction.
This story has been updated with additional information.
