He was charged in March in a New York State case concerning the payment of hush money to a porn performer. This time, he has received a federal indictment for lying to investigators and maintaining official records at his Florida house, including in a ballroom and a shower. The most recent indictment is significant since it was issued by the US Justice Department.
Source: News 18
The allegations are significant given that the papers Trump allegedly concealed contained sensitive information on the US nuclear programme, its military vulnerabilities, and its defence and weapons capabilities. Trump blatantly jeopardised US national security by keeping confidential materials in locations that scarcely qualified as secure. Even worse, he allegedly showed the materials to others who were not entitled to see them. He might receive a serious prison sentence if found guilty.
Trump has refuted the accusations. His indictment has been referred to as political warfare against him in advance of the 2024 presidential elections. He is portraying himself as the victim of a political scam. One could have expected that as the cases against him grew, his reputation would have suffered. Not at all.
Trump turned to his Make America Great Again supporters after the state’s indictment in March, and donations flooded in. This time around, too, his core followers are staying by him and seem to have accepted his assertions that he is a victim of plots by the Biden administration to prevent him from winning the White House. Even his opponent Republicans refrain from criticising him because of concern for retaliation from the Republican far right.
Source: PBS NewsHour
According to US law, being charged or convicted is not a disqualifier for the presidency. Trump is therefore eligible to seek reelection to the White House. He is a front-runner to receive the Republican nomination for president. He will likely use his court appearances as rallying points for his fans. Interestingly, Biden is also under investigation for mishandling secret information, but a far lesser amount and with much lower security consequences.
Nevertheless, given that Biden has declared his intention to run for office again, it is reasonable to anticipate that Trump’s legal team would go on the attack in an effort to humiliate him. As electoral excitement in the US intensifies, Trump is likely to accuse the Biden administration of political persecution and perhaps incite his supporters to commit violence.
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