UPDATE
3:31 PM PT — Special Counsel Jack Smith just spoke about the indictment of Donald Trump. Interestingly, he emphasized the defendant must be considered innocent until proven guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, in a court of law.
UPDATE
Fox News
UPDATE
One way to read that is … Smith is confident the case the feds have built.
Donald Trump has another criminal case on his hands — another grand jury has indicted him, this time for attempting to undermine the 2020 election with his actions on, before and after January 6, 2021.
The ex-President’s been hit with 4 new counts — conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct and official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights (to vote).
Trump took to Truth Social to beat the feds to the punch, announcing he would be indicted before the feds could drop the bombshell. Trump wrote, “I hear that Deranged (Special Counsel) Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M.”
He adds, “Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!”
Remember, Trump has two other criminal cases that are currently pending — one pertains to his alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, and another is tied to his classified documents scandal post-presidency down in Florida.
In both instances, Trump has pleaded not guilty. Ya gotta assume, he’ll do the same here.
Trump was impeached over his role in the Jan. 6 riot — but was ultimately acquitted in Congress when the proceedings reached the Senate. He very memorably encouraged protesters that day to head on over to the Capitol, and was slow to tell them to stand down.
Interestingly, Trump’s been full steam ahead on the campaign regardless of his legal woes — he continues to hold rallies, including one this past weekend, as the 2024 election nears.
Trump has been summoned to appear in federal court Thursday in D.C. to face the new charges.
Originally Published — 2:56 PM PT