Thursday, March 28

Trump’s inflammatory speech in Texas may have deepened his legal troubles, experts say | donald trump


Donald Trump’s inflammatory call at a Texas rally for his supporters to stage mass protests against “radical, vicious, racist prosecutors” could constitute obstruction of justice or other crimes and backfire legally on Trump, former federal prosecutors say.

Trump’s spike attack was seen as a criticism of separate federal and state investigations into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his real estate empire.

Trump’s tirade that his supporters should launch the “biggest protests” in history in three cities if prosecutors “do something wrong or illegal” by charging him criminally for his efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory, or for corporate tax fraud, it occurred at a rally on January 30. in Texas where he repeated falsehoods that the election was rigged.

Legal experts were stunned by Trump’s strong suggestions that if he runs for and wins a second term in 2024, he would pardon many of those accused of attacking Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 last year in hopes of thwarting certification. of Biden by Congress.

Former Nixon White House lawyer John Dean attacked Trump’s statements on pardons for rioters as “dictator stuff,” stressing that “failing to stand up to a tyrant only encourages bad behavior.”

Taken together, veteran prosecutors say Trump’s comments seemed to reveal that the former president now feels more legal danger from the three investigations in Atlanta, Washington and New York, all of which have accelerated since early 2022.

Trump’s anxiety was palpable as he urged supporters at the Texas rally to stage “the biggest protests we’ve ever had in Washington DC, in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere,” should charges be filed, a request for help that could be a boomerang and create more legal problems for the former president.

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Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor who is a lawyer for Lawyers Defending American Democracy, told The Guardian that Trump “may have shot himself in the foot” with the comments. “Criminal intent can be difficult to prove, but when a potential defendant says something that is easily seen as intimidating or threatening to those investigating the case, it becomes easier,” Aftergut said.

Aftergut added that having proclaimed “his support for the insurgents, Trump added evidence of his corrupt intent on January 6 if he is prosecuted by the Justice Department for aiding the seditious conspiracy or impeding an official congressional proceeding.”

Likewise, a former federal prosecutor in Georgia, Michael Moore, said that Trump’s comments could “potentially intimidate witnesses and members of a grand jury,” noting that it is a felony in Georgia to dissuade a witness from testifying before a court. grand jury.

Trump “essentially is calling for vigilante justice against the justice system. He is not interested in seeking justice but rather in blocking any investigation,” Moore added.

Trump’s outburst of anger came as three prosecutors’ investigations that could lead to charges against Trump or his top associates appeared to gather steam last month.

A special grand jury, for example, passed in Atlanta centered on Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2 last year, asking him to “find” enough votes to block Joe Biden’s victory. in Georgia, a state Trump lost by more than 11,700 votes.

Trump’s call for large protests prompted Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the criminal investigation, to ask the FBI to compile a threat assessment to protect her office and the grand jury set to convene in May. .

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Also last month, a top law enforcement official revealed that the Justice Department is investigating fake election certifications declaring Trump the winner in several states in which he lost, a scheme allegedly pushed by Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, for Vice President Mike Pence that could prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory. To Trump’s annoyance, Pence rejected the plan.

In addition, the New York state attorney general stated in a court filing last month that investigators had found evidence that Trump’s real estate business used “fraudulent or misleading” asset valuations to obtain loans and tax benefits, allegations that Trump and their lawyers described as politically motivated.

Former prosecutors say Trump’s comments on Texas are dangerous and could legally become a boomerang as prosecutors appear to have new momentum.

“Our criminal laws seek to hold people accountable for their intentional actions,” said Paul Pelletier, a former acting chief of the Justice Department’s fraud section. “Trump’s record of inciting people to violence demonstrates that his recent comments are likely to cause a disruption of pending investigations against him and his family members.”

Pelletier added: “If his conduct were to actually impede any of these investigations, federal and state obstruction statutes could easily compound Mr. Trump’s criminal exposure.”

Trump’s comments resonated especially in Georgia, where former prosecutors say he could now face new legal problems.

Aftergut noted that Willis understood the threat when he quickly asked the FBI to provide protection in court, predicting that the immediate effect on the assistant prosecutors working on the case would be “energized to continue with the case.”

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In a similar vein, Norm Eisen, a former diplomat and co-chair of the United States Democracy Center, said Trump’s call for protests in Atlanta, New York and Washington if prosecutors indict him, “certainly sounds like a thinly veiled call. to violence. That’s particularly true when you combine it with his other statements at the Texas rally about how the latest insurgent mob is being mistreated and did nothing wrong.”

Furthermore, Congresswoman Liz Cheney, co-chair of the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 assault on Capitol Hill by Trump supporters, has stated that Trump’s talk of pardons and encouraging further protests suggests he would “do it all.” again, if I had the chance.” .

On another legal front, Aftergut noted that some of Trump’s comments at the rally could help Justice Department prosecutors expand their investigation. He said: “Trump handed federal prosecutors another gift when he said Mike Pence should have ‘nullified the election.'”

Some veteran consultants say Trump’s latest attacks on prosecutors show he is growing more nervous as investigations appear to be getting hotter.

“Trump prosecutors’ attacks are wearing thin on the broad Republican electorate,” said Chuck Coughlin, a Republican adviser from Arizona. “He’s trying to flog the base for his personal benefit. This is another iteration of Trump’s attacks on the government.”

From a broader perspective, Moore emphasized that Trump’s multiple attacks on the legal system at the Texas rally represent “just another erosion of the norms of a civilized society by Trump. The truth has taken a backseat to Trumpism.”


www.theguardian.com

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