Former President Donald Trump said Thursday he doesn’t think he will be indicted but insisted a grand jury bill against him would not deter him from a 2024 White House bid.
“I can’t imagine being indicted. I’ve done nothing wrong,” Mr. Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
“I don’t think the people of the United States would stand for it,” Mr. Trump said. “And as you know, if a thing like that happened, I would have no prohibition against running.”
Pressed on public reaction to an indictment, the ex-president said, “They will not sit still and stand for this ultimate of hoaxes.”
Many interpreted that as an indirect warning of violence, though Mr. Trump insisted he was not trying to incite anyone and stating his opinion.
Mr. Trump struck a defiant tone in the interview as a grand jury pores over materials and testimony related to the ex-president’s actions following the 2020 election and lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Investigators are reportedly interested in a scheme to install “fake electors” in swing states that would have handed Electoral College support to Mr. Trump instead of President Biden.
Mr. Trump said he wasn’t involved in the scheme and hasn’t received a target letter from prosecutors in places like Georgia, where a Fulton County prosecutor is poring over records and gathering testimony.
“When you look at alternate slates, that’s been done for decades and decades, many, many years. Alternative slates are actually common,” Mr. Trump said. “I wasn’t involved with alternate slates, but I can tell you many people have been for many, many years doing alternate slates.”
Mr. Trump also reasserted his right to declassify documents as investigators look over sensitive documents they seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate as part of a parallel investigation.
Some legal experts say Mr. Trump faces legal jeopardy because he did not go through a formal process to declassify documents and some documents are so secret they must be retained in secure settings by the government.
Mr. Trump said he didn’t do anything wrong and shouldn’t be indicted.
“There’s no reason that they can, other than if they’re just sick and deranged, which is always possible,” he told Mr. Hewitt.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.