Miami, Florida: Donald Trump was set to face dozens of felony counts of mishandling U.S. government secrets in court on Tuesday, but the most serious criminal investigation to date has pushed him to retake the White House. It was done in the midst of fear of derailing the efforts of
The former president plans to drive a 25-minute motorcade from a golf course in Miami to a federal courthouse, where he is expected to deny 37 counts of illegally storing classified documents and obstructing efforts to retrieve them. there is
With the Republican leader running for re-election and ardent supporters already taking to the streets on the eve of the hearings, Miami police are gearing up for protests of up to 50,000 people and fear of violence. prepared for.
“There’s never been a witch hunt like this,” Trump told a local Conservative Hispanic radio station on Monday after arriving in Miami from his New Jersey vacation home.
“When they see what they’ve done and what they’ve done, the criminals and the horrible things they’ve done, they’re coming after me,” he said.
The belligerent billionaire, who turns 77 on Wednesday, deliberately smuggled dozens of clearly marked government secrets into his Palm Beach, Fla., seaside mansion and returned them when he left office in January 2021. has been accused of refusal and complicity in obstruction. Investigators aiming to retrieve them.
He has also been charged with sharing classified U.S. information with people without a non-disclosure clearance, a far more serious case than he has faced so far, and could carry a sentence of decades in prison. There is
appeal to calmness
The front-runner in the 2024 Republican primary has pledged to stay in the race regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, embarking on a campaign at the White House for the first time in U.S. history with a legal battle and an election campaign.
The 49-page indictment, which President Trump dismissed as “absurd,” contains photographs of boxes supposedly in the National Archives piled up in the banquet hall, bathrooms and showers of the Mar-a-Lago mansion. was
Security has been tightened around Miami’s Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Courthouse, and several protests were planned, including by a local chapter of the far-right group Proud Boys.
Miami City Republican Mayor Francis Suarez told reporters on Monday, “I hope there will be peace tomorrow. I encourage people to express their feelings peacefully.”
Trump will then fly to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and reaffirm his innocence in a speech before his supporters.
The former leader’s legal woes are just beginning, as he faces multiple felony charges in a New York City financial fraud case set for trial next March.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the document investigation, is also investigating Trump’s involvement in the 2021 Capitol riots, and state and federal investigators are seeking to overturn the 2020 election. We are scrutinizing our efforts.
‘An eye for an eye’
In the wake of Trump’s recent indictments, congressional allies and rivals in the presidential nomination race have mostly surrounded the van, denouncing the government’s “weaponization” of conservatives.
Among Republicans, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, who told supporters to “get your feet up,” said, “We’ve entered the war phase. An eye for an eye.”
The Southern District of Florida is known as the “Rocket Investigation” Court (a legal term for a place to seek speedy justice), and officials haven’t ruled out the possibility of finishing the case before the 2024 election.
Much of the focus of the preliminary proceedings will be on Trump-appointed District Court Judge Eileen Cannon, who will be randomly assigned cases and will have a significant impact on how things unfold.
Cannon has handed down a series of rulings in Trump’s favor in the case, effectively stalling the investigation for weeks before a conservative appeals court ruled that he had acted beyond his powers.
Another judge will oversee the arraignment hearing itself.