Tag: Trumps

Trump’s lawyer expects to make motion to dismiss charges

[ad_1]

The move to dismiss the charges against Donald Trump (pictured) won’t come until after his arraignment Tuesday, Joe Tacopina said. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo
Joe Tacopina, one of former President Donald Trump’s lawyers, said Sunday that he eventually expects to move to dismiss the charges against the former president.
“I very much anticipate a motion to dismiss coming because there’s no law that fits this,” Tacopina told Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Trump was indicted Thursday by a Manhattan grand jury in a case related to hush money his lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The exact charges against the former president have yet to be unveiled.
[ad_2]
#Trumps #lawyer #expects #motion #dismiss #charges
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 2, 2023
One’s a tactician, the other’s a showman. Meet Trump’s defense team.

[ad_1]

People who know them say the two lawyers have very different styles — she’s an understated tactician and he’s a colorful showman, “bombastic,” in his own words — but both have built their careers in New York courtrooms.
In separate interviews, Necheles and Tacopina said they have a productive working relationship — Tacopina described it as “harmonious,” adding that they would likely add a third member to the team who specializes in election law.
And both called their relationship with Trump “respectful.”
“Of course I’ve worked with difficult clients over the years in some cases, and you just try to make them have confidence in you,” Necheles said.
Still, Trump’s recent remarks about Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg — calling him an “animal” and “racist” — could complicate his lawyers’ ability to work productively with prosecutors.
Necheles dismissed any concerns, saying, “Trump is a little bit more verbal about it and out there” in his criticism of the office. But, she added: “Of course he doesn’t like them. They’re trying to ruin his life.”
Tacopina said the case is in some ways unremarkable and in others extraordinary. “On one hand, this is a belly-of-the-beast, 100 Centre Street, low-level case that should be treated this way. On the other hand, this is the former president of the United States, so we have to be cognizant of that,” he said, referring to the street address for Manhattan Criminal Court where Trump will be tried.
“I’m buckling my seatbelt,” he added. “Let’s put it that way.”

Neither lawyer would discuss their strategy for the Trump case, but both have a history of deploying creative gambits on behalf of their clients. Necheles once used a “divine defense” on behalf of a developer accused of fleecing ultra-orthodox Jewish clients, telling a jury he had received a blessing from a rabbi to build affordable housing. “It was a mitzvah to him, a Hebrew word that means a good deed and an obligation,” she said.
During the trial of a former New York state senator accused of theft, she showed jurors a blown-up image of an apple, while a piece of the fruit sat on the defense table in front of her client. “There’s something rotten about this case,” she told jurors.
Meanwhile, Tacopina helped a rapper named Sticky Fingaz, who faced a gun possession charge that was later dropped, slip into the courthouse undetected by paparazzi.
Tacopina accompanied his driver — who posed as the rapper by donning a hat and sunglasses — through the front entrance while the rapper slipped through another door. Tacopina laughed at the suggestion that he would try to pull a similar stunt with Trump. “I have no tricks up my sleeve here,” he said. “This is the Secret Service’s show here, not mine.”
Tacopina also has some experience navigating choppy relationships between Trump world and its investigators — though not always with favorable results for his clients. Last year, when he represented Guilfoyle before the Jan. 6 committee, Tacopina accused the committee of blindsiding them by allowing some of the panel’s Democratic members to attend the proceeding and she walked shortly after it started. Her premature departure resulted in the committee issuing a subpoena for Guilfoyle’s testimony that ultimately compelled her return for a lengthy interview about her involvement in planning and fundraising for Trump’s Jan. 6 rally.
[ad_2]
#tactician #showman #Meet #Trumps #defense #team
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 1, 2023
Playbook Deep Dive: What Trump’s indictment means

[ad_1]

Well, I mean, in terms of the characters, yes, you’re right that this is all sort of a throwback to 2016-2018 period.
But, you know, one of the people who’s testified twice, I believe, in front of this grand jury and who is central to this whole episode and who I believe has never spoken publicly about it is David Pecker. And so if there’s any chance that he ends up testifying at a trial or ends up speaking about his side of the story, I would be very intrigued to hear that.
As you know, as someone who, you know, he was extremely close to Donald Trump and that’s how he got involved in this hush money payment to begin with. That’s someone I would really like to hear from at some point if there’s an opportunity to do that.
But in terms of the sort of the legal questions that are going to come up here, there’s quite a number. But I think the biggest one is, you know, I mentioned that the indictment is sealed. We don’t know what the counts are yet, but there’s a lot of questions about how the district attorney, Alvin Bragg, constructed these charges and whether they will survive in court, because if they are what we think they’re going to be, they’re a largely untested legal theory.
And Trump’s lawyers, of course, will try their hardest to fight them and given that they’re untested, there’s just a lot of questions about how they’ll survive. So that’s probably the biggest issue here. But then, of course, we will run into all sorts of questions about the sort of scheduling of legal proceedings and a potential trial for someone who is a presidential candidate. And that is likely to be very, very complicated. So.
[ad_2]
#Playbook #Deep #Dive #Trumps #indictment #means
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 31, 2023
Hill Republicans sprint to Trump’s corner before indictment details are clear

[ad_1]
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said her party should retaliate by impeaching President Joe Biden because “the gloves are off.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) warned colleagues in Congress that they need to “think long and hard about their oath of office” and “step up … or get out of the way.” Speaker Kevin McCarthy made no promises of specific action but said the House would “hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account.”
“Alvin Bragg has irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election,” he said in a statement.
Though the precise details of the charges against Trump are unclear, the New York-based case centers on allegations that he bought the silence of Stormy Daniels, who sought to sell her story of an earlier affair with Trump in the closing weeks of the 2016 election. Bragg confirmed that he had contacted Trump’s lawyer to “coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s Office” but that the indictment remained sealed and an arraignment date had not yet been picked.
The hush money case percolated in New York and in the Justice Department for years but eventually went dormant. Bragg appeared to abandon it shortly after becoming district attorney last year but it surged back to life in recent weeks, with a cascade of witnesses — including Trump’s former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen — returning to the grand jury. That timeline has led Trump to frame the probe as politically motivated, driven by Democratic-led prosecutors in New York City.
Republicans on Capitol Hill were eager to amplify those claims, often in starkly political terms, contending that the charges against Trump would motivate his supporters and boost his prospects for returning to the White House in 2024.
Even Senate Republicans, who have not leapt as readily as their House counterparts to defend Trump in the past, blasted out statements condemning the indictment.
“This is a politically-motivated prosecution by a far-left activist,” Senate GOP Conference Chair John Barrasso of Wyoming said in a statement. “If it was anyone other than President Trump, a case like this would never be brought.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) declared that the indictment “doesn’t pass the smell test.”
“Politics should never tip the scales of justice, and Congress has every right to investigate the conduct and decision-making of the Manhattan D.A.’s office,” he added.”
Democrats, on the other hand, made a concerted effort to present a measured response, suggesting that the legal process should play out and the indictment showed no one – not even a former president – was above the law.
“The indictment of a former president is unprecedented. But so are Trump’s alleged offenses,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of Trump’s longtime political nemeses. “If the rule of law is to be applied equally — and it must — it must apply to the powerful as it does to everyone else. Even presidents. Especially presidents. To do otherwise is not democracy.”
Others urged allies not to “celebrate” and emphasized the “somber” nature of the news, particularly amid concerns that a Trump indictment might be accompanied by security risks.
“As this case progress, let us neither celebrate nor destroy,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (R-Calif.) said in a statement.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) issued a quick rejoinder to McCarthy, emphasizing that his heated rebuke of Bragg came despite the complete absence of details about the evidence the district attorney had amassed.
“Dear @SpeakerMcCarthy: You don’t know the charges. You don’t know the evidence presented to the grand jury. You don’t know about other evidence the DA may have,” Lieu wrote. “What you are doing is attempted political interference in an ongoing local criminal prosecution and you need to stop.”
[ad_2]
#Hill #Republicans #sprint #Trumps #corner #indictment #details #clear
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 31, 2023
Manhattan’s DA wanted a Friday Trump arrest. Trump’s team said no.

[ad_1]

Former President Donald Trump is expected to surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s office. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo
The Manhattan district attorney’s office asked for Donald Trump to surrender on Friday following a grand jury’s vote to indict the former president.
But lawyers for Trump rebuffed the request saying that the Secret Service, which provides security detail for the former president, needed more time to prepare.
The exchange, which was relayed to POLITICO by a law-enforcement source and confirmed by Joe Tacopina, a lawyer for the former president, underscores the extremely delicate, unprecedented nature of the indictment. Until Thursday, no ex-president in history had been criminally charged. And both the charges itself and the application of them have placed the country on uncharted legal and political terrain.
[ad_2]
#Manhattans #wanted #Friday #Trump #arrest #Trumps #team
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 31, 2023
Trump’s standing among Hill conservatives dims ahead of ’24

[ad_1]

“They’re conservative,” Lankford added of his constituents, “but they’re dealing with personality there as well and are trying to figure out: Where do we go as a nation?”
Lankford is staying neutral in his state, where Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) bested Trump in the 2016 primary. And he’s got plenty of company. Even as the GOP’s right flank earns sway equal to the tea party era, most conservatives aren’t inserting themselves into the brewing clash between Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an all-but-certain presidential contender bred by the pro-Trump House Freedom Caucus.
Interviews with more than 40 congressional Republicans — including 32 Freedom Caucus members — show a surprising number of Trump’s once-ardent supporters going quiet about whether they back him, despite new polling that shows him widening his primary lead. The small share of conservatives willing to endorse Trump right now suggests that the former president’s power base in the Hill GOP is at a nadir, even as DeSantis and other rivals have yet to ramp up their outreach.
And some congressional conservatives are getting unexpected reactions to their alternative picks.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), for instance, was one of the 20 doubters who initially blocked Kevin McCarthy from ascending to the speakership even as Trump supported the California Republican through 15 arduous ballots.
Then Norman surprised colleagues last month by backing former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley over Trump. And he, too, was in for a surprise when he informed Trump of his decision.
The former president, who is well known for grudge-holding, “was nice” about Norman’s decision, he recalled in an interview. “‘Do what you have to do. You got a great family.’ And that’s what he said,’’ Norman recounted. He hasn’t heard from Trump since.
Trump has received a quintet of Senate endorsements, with potentially more to come, and is clearly looking to see if his old coalition of allies is willing to rally around him again. He unveiled endorsements from 11 House members in Texas this past weekend — and warned that those on the fence were encouraged not to come to his rally.

Yet overall, the show of support for Trump is far from decisive. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is DeSantis’ only current backer — not much of a surprise, since DeSantis isn’t running yet — but few Hill conservatives are pushing the Florida governor to stay out of the race.
“I do want DeSantis to run,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), who plans to stay “neutral” in the event her colleague, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), jumps in. “Even if DeSantis and Trump are very close philosophically, there’s definitely a style difference there. And style is important.”
The reasons for the cool reception to Trump are myriad: He left office two weeks after a violent insurrection by his backers, and his meddling in Republican primaries backfired to help Democrats keep the Senate last year. He associates with white nationalists and has seemingly never-ending legal woes. For many Republicans, the need to win after a streak of losses supersedes old loyalties.
The House Freedom Caucus is composed of roughly 35 lawmakers, and about one-third of those members interviewed for this story are publicly supporting Trump again. That camp includes the group’s former chair, Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
Fourteen Freedom Caucus members wouldn’t say where they stand on the primary, either stating they’re undecided as the race takes shape or declining to weigh in outright. The Trump-aligned group’s current leader, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), played a central role helping Trump challenge his 2020 loss.
But the Pennsylvanian demurred when asked whom he would back in 2024: “We got a ways to go … I really am just focused on my work” in the House.
Then there’s Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), a Freedom Caucus member caught on camera waving off Greene as she sought to put him on the phone with Trump during the speakership balloting. Rosendale has no plans to make a presidential endorsement and he sidestepped concerns that a rift with Trump could hurt his chances in the state primary should he decide to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
“We’re not supposed to use telephones on the House floor. That’s all I’ve got to say about that,” he said. (When he shrugged off the chance to talk to Trump in January, however, there were no rules governing the House floor.)
Fractures within the Freedom Caucus clearly emerged during the Trump administration, as the majority of the group shifted from libertarian ideology to a more MAGA-centric outlook. Now, some want to return to their former roots — which may well entail a different approach to 2024. One Freedom Caucus member, granted anonymity to speak candidly, described Trump as an unlikely pick.
In addition, the field that’s shaping up is especially awkward in early primary states. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) cited his ties to Haley and Scott in declining to answer. But Duncan also served in Congress with Mike Pompeo, Kristi Noem, DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence. And he knows Trump, as all Republicans do.
“My relationships with all those people really are more important to me than endorsing — early on — one of them. That could jeopardize my relationships,” Duncan said.
Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) declined to address whom he’d support, instead contending it is a “good problem” to have multiple choices. Asked if he feared Trump attacking him if he ultimately backs someone else for president, he shrugged it off.
“He might, because that’s just the way he is,” said the Freedom Caucus member. “But, if he wins, then we all hug again and keep on going.”
Across the Capitol, five out of 49 Republican senators are openly endorsing Trump: Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, J.D. Vance of Ohio, and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. Those on the sidelines at the moment range from Cruz, Trump’s 2016 rival turned ally, to Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), whom Trump pushed to victory in last year’s Senate primary.
Budd at least sounded warm to Trump’s candidacy, expressing “tremendous gratitude for how he helped” in the midterms. Cruz would only say he foresees “a full and vigorous presidential primary, and I am confident it won’t be boring.”
Some on-the-fence Republicans might be more willing to endorse Trump if he went back to talking about the economy. Take Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who’s a party barometer of sorts: A gubernatorial candidate and member of the conservative bloc that opposed Mitch McConnell for GOP leader. He also served as Trump’s biggest defender during his 2020 impeachment trial.
”If [Trump] would focus on what was going on pre-Covid, and not try to get the toothpaste back in the tube — which is not going to happen — I think he’s got a strong argument to make,” Braun said.
[ad_2]
#Trumps #standing #among #Hill #conservatives #dims #ahead
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 30, 2023
Opinion | Trump’s Huge Jan. 6 Mistake

[ad_1]

But there was Trump in Waco, Texas, opening his inaugural rally of the 2024 campaign with a recording of the song “Justice for All” that he performed with the J6 Prison Choir, with some scenes of Jan. 6 playing on the jumbotrons.
Among those favorably inclined toward it, the bloody riot at the Capitol has progressed from something to be minimized — and blamed on others, whether antifa or federal informants — to closer to something to be celebrated, almost, if not quite, Stop the Steal’s Bastille Day.
For Trump, a master at appropriating the catch lines and attacks of the other side, reversing the meaning of Jan. 6 would be his most audacious move yet. How long is it before that day, in an echo of the phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy that got him impeached, becomes “the perfect protest?”
This is a huge mistake in every way, most importantly on the merits, but also on the politics.
Yet Trump’s stance isn’t surprising. He still hews to the two premises of the Jan. 6 riot — that, as a general proposition, the 2020 election was stolen and, more particularly, former Vice President Mike Pence could have stopped the counting of the electoral votes if he weren’t so weak. This is why, in a contradiction, Trump blames Pence for an event that he also portrays as not so bad.
Trump has talked about pardoning the rioters, who are “great patriots,” and floated the idea of the government apologizing to many of them.
Now, it is true that the insistence by Democrats and the media on referring to Jan. 6 always and exclusively as “the insurrection” is tiresome and politically motivated. (Insurrection suggests a sustained campaign, whereas this was a one-time spasm of violence more appropriately referred to as a riot.)
The Justice Department has gone out of its way to run up the number of prosecutions to make a political point about the seriousness of the event, and defendants have been denied bail in a highly unusual manner — if we grant bail to mafia hit men, and we do, we should grant it to someone who punched a cop on Jan. 6.

And there is a rank hypocrisy in the treatment of political violence. The same people on the left who were willing to look the other way during the “mostly peaceful” riots after the killing of George Floyd are outraged by Jan. 6. (Of course, hypocrisy is a two-way street: If it’s wrong to burn down a gas station in the name of Black Lives Matter, it’s not any better to storm the Capitol in the name of Stop the Steal.)
All that said, making excuses for or valorizing Jan. 6 is deeply wrong.
First, there’s the matter of principle. Riots are bad and never justified (except in the rare case when they are a precursor of a just and well-founded act of revolution — for example, the American War for Independence). They hurt people and destroy property, while achieving nothing or setting back the cause they were supposed to advance.
Disorder at the heart of the U.S. government, disrupting a long-standing ritual connected to the peaceful transfer of power, is particularly egregious.
Second, justifying or excusing political violence has a deranging influence on the republic. The more reason both sides have to physically fear each other, the easier it is to justify extreme measures in response, in a widening gyre of escalation.
Third, it’s simply terrible politics. If the other side is desperate to portray you as in bed with fanatics and rioters, it’s best not to go out of your way to prove them right. It’s perverse for Republicans that just as the Jan. 6 Committee has been put out of business and is no longer in a position to constantly remind the public of Jan. 6, here comes Donald Trump to remind people of Jan. 6.
It’d be a little like Richard Nixon running for the 1976 Republican presidential nomination, and campaigning with a barbershop quartet made up of the Watergate burglars.
Or Ulysses S. Grant deciding to run for third term while extolling the unappreciated virtues of the organizers of the Whiskey Ring scandal.
What Trump is doing flies in the face of the lessons of the midterms. Jan. 6 lent emotional power to the Democratic argument that democracy was under threat, and Stop the Steal candidates proved radioactive. Trump wants, in effect, to repeat November 2022’s failed political experiment on a larger scale in 2024.
On top of his natural inclinations, Trump may be making a calculation that in a primary race with Ron DeSantis to be the most MAGA Republican candidate, he can’t lose by staking out the most pro-Jan. 6 position. That’s not a crazy bet, but if Trump is going to be beaten it will probably be, in part, on grounds that he carries too much baggage and is an electability risk. By embracing rather than skirting one of his major vulnerabilities, he gives his adversaries more ammunition on both counts.
Jan. 6 is an outrage that shouldn’t become a cause.
[ad_2]
#Opinion #Trumps #Huge #Jan #Mistake
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 30, 2023
Fox poll shows Trump’s lead over DeSantis growing

[ad_1]

Trump has been ramping up attacks on the likely 2024 contender. On Wednesday, he posted three new videos on Truth Social, the social media company he helped found, criticizing the governor for both his past policy decisions and his falling poll numbers.
The Fox poll was one of a handful released in recent days that show the former president widening his lead over DeSantis. In a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday, Trump had the support of 47 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters, well above DeSantis’ 33 percent. A Morning Consult survey from earlier this month showed Trump with a 54-to-26 percent lead over DeSantis among potential GOP primary voters.
Trump’s growing lead in the polls comes amid a flurry of news over a potential indictment of the former president in a case related to a $130,000 hush money payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016. Though an indictment appeared imminent earlier this month, it was reported Wednesday that the Manhattan grand jury investigating the allegations isn’t expected to hear additional evidence in the case for the next month.
In the Fox GOP poll, former Vice President Mike Pence drew 6 percent, followed by former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 3 percent each, with other Republicans trailing behind.
The poll also showed President Joe Biden with an approval rating of 44 percent, same as last month.
Fox polled 1,007 randomly selected registered voters from March 24 to March 27. The margin of error of the poll was plus or minus 3 percentage points, though that margin was slightly larger — plus or minus 4.5 percentage points — for the results of the Republican primary ballot.
[ad_2]
#Fox #poll #shows #Trumps #lead #DeSantis #growing
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 30, 2023
Trump attorney says he will not ‘defend or condemn’ Trump’s rhetoric toward Manhattan DA

[ad_1]

“I think that was an ill-advised post that one of his social media people put up, and he quickly took down when he realized the rhetoric and photo that was attached to it,” Tacopina added.
Trump has not been indicated in the New York case, though he still could be.
When asked whether he was concerned that Trump’s barrage of social media posts on Truth Social, the platform Trump helped found, could lead to violence similar to the Jan. 6 riots, Tacopina said that he did not believe it was Trump’s rhetoric that let to the violence at the Capitol in 2021, and declined to condemn “anything regarding social media.”
“Well, I’m not accepting that proposition, that his rhetoric created violence [on Jan. 6]. I think violence was on the way that day,” Tacopina said.
“I’m not going to defend or condemn anything regarding social media. That’s not what I do. I’m not a Trump PR person. I’m a litigator and a lawyer,” he told NBC’s Chuck Todd.
[ad_2]
#Trump #attorney #defend #condemn #Trumps #rhetoric #Manhattan
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 26, 2023
Trump’s first ’24 rally has a familiar feel: Anger and attacks on his tormentors

[ad_1]
Trump went on to do a dramatic re-enactment of DeSantis pleading for his endorsement in the 2018 Florida governor’s race. The former president said that after he grudgingly backed DeSantis, the candidate “became like a rocket ship” and prevailed in the primary and general election — and argued that had he not backed him, DeSantis would have never won.
The audience seemed game to stand for hours under the central Texas sun and listen to Trump’s litany of complaints. They and the event itself offered a vivid illustration of the fault lines that have quickly opened up in the very early GOP primary: in which fealty to Trump appears to be one of the main litmus tests for those running.
Indeed, rallygoers here in Waco expressed disappointment that DeSantis had not gone further in his defense of Trump as he stares down a possible indictment from the Manhattan district attorney.
Louise Negry from Lometa, Tex., said DeSantis “might be a traitor.”
Her friend, Renee Alaniz, agreed, referencing the Florida governor’s implicit mocking of Trump for being involved in an alleged hush money payment to a porn star (which has been the central issue in his potential indictment).
“His statement about the possible Trump arrest was a little questionable — quite a bit questionable. His choice to be so lax about it and not support Trump in any way,” Alaniz said.
Chris Blunt, who wore a t-shirt with an image of the Trump NFT he purchased last year, called DeSantis a “Trump clone,” and said the governor should be “dropping the Covid stuff and moving past it.”
“Trump likes to attack the person and not their character, but DeSantis is attacking Trump’s character and credibility,” Blunt said. “He needs to stop playing games because Trump is going to trounce you.”

DeSantis was not the lone object of scorn in Waco on Saturday night. Trump also railed against Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, who is investigating the $130,000 hush money payments to adult entertainer Stormy Daniels on Trump’s behalf. The jury in Manhattan had appeared to be wrapping up with the case and a decision on charges against Trump was widely expected to come last week. Now it does not appear any decision will come until at least early next week.
Trump framed the investigations into him and the “weaponization of our justice system” as “the central issue of our time.” And he claimed the “biggest threat” to the U.S. isn’t China or Russia but “high level politicians that work in the U.S. government like McConnell, Pelosi, Schumer and Biden.”
“You will be vindicated and proud the thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited and totally disgraced,” Trump said.
Trump’s first 2024 presidential campaign rally came at a pivotal time. While Bragg closes in on a likely indictment — which would be a first for a sitting or former president — Trump is also facing legal scrutiny over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election as well as his handling of classified White House documents.
Trump, on Saturday, appeared to bet that he could turn the investigations into a political asset, casting himself once more as a victim of a federal government that was aligned against him.
“Our opponents have done everything they can to crush our spirit and to break our will. But they failed. They’ve only made us stronger,” he said.
The campaign and city of Waco had expected at least 15,000 people to attend Saturday’s rally. Wearing MAGA hats and Trump t-shirts, some waved official campaign signs saying “WITCH HUNT” and the entire crowd stood, hand to heart along with Trump, as a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” sung by the “J6 Choir” played, set to a video of protesters storming the U.S. Capitol.
Trump ticked through a list of campaign promises that included mandating term limits, keeping “men out of women’s sports” and ending “the invasion at the Southern border.” And he once again vowed, without articulating how, that he would end the war in Ukraine and prevent “World War 3.”
But the focus wasn’t primarily on the issues facing America, it was on the many issues facing him.
The Trump campaign rolled out its Texas leadership team and endorsements for 2024 that included Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and twelve members of Congress, including Reps. Pete Sessions, the former NRCC chairman, and Roger Williams, chairman of the small business committee. Rep. Ronny Jackson — Trump’s former White House physician turned U.S. congressman from Texas — helped Trump’s campaign nail down endorsements and Trump personally called each, according to a campaign adviser.
Notably, Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz weren’t included on the list, although the adviser said they expect more endorsements and Abbott and Cruz have both mulled 2024 runs of their own.
Capitol Hill Trump allies like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) warmed up the crowds with their own rally cries.
Greene told the crowd to stop letting people from “blue states” move into Texas, and — in what has been a major pivot for the GOP — told people to embrace ballot harvesting.
“We need to beat them at their own game and start harvesting ballots,” Greene said. “Except they’ll only come from legal registered voters who are U.S. citizens.”
Trump seemed pleased with Greene’s speech in particular, and on stage encouraged her to run for Senate.
Outside the venue, rallygoers wandered through a makeshift marketplace of Trump themed souvenirs that ranged from Trump and Melania Trump lifesize cutouts, MAGA bikinis and t-shirts with crude messages against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. One vendor said he was close to selling out a t-shirt that read, “I was there, where were you? God, Guns, Trump, in Waco, Texas.”
Meridith McGraw reported from Waco, Texas; Alex Isenstadt reported from Washington, D.C.
[ad_2]
#Trumps #rally #familiar #feel #Anger #attacks #tormentors
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 26, 2023