Former President Donald Trump predicted Monday he will be indicted by special counsel Jack Smith “any day now” over his activities following the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump, writing on his Truth Social platform, made the prediction as he lays the groundwork to decry new charges as an example of federal authorities impeding his 2024 bid for the White House.
“I assume that an Indictment from Deranged Jack Smith and his highly partisan gang of Thugs, pertaining to my ‘PEACEFULLY & PATRIOTICALLY Speech, will be coming out any day now, as yet another attempt to cover up all of the bad news about bribes, payoffs, and extortion, coming from the Biden ‘camp,’” Mr. Trump wrote. “This seems to be the way they do it. ELECTION INTERFERENCE! PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT!”
Mr. Smith signaled to Mr. Trump earlier this month that he was the target of his investigation, which featured numerous subpoenas and testimony from key aides about the ex-president’s actions following the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump repeatedly claimed the election was rigged against him and urged state leaders to root out potentially fraudulent ballots and swing key states back into his column. The effort included personal calls to state leaders and press conferences by his lawyers.
It culminated in a speech to supporters on the White House Ellipse before a pro-Trump mob went down Pennsylvania Avenue and breached the Capitol. Lawmakers were trying to certify Joseph R. Biden’s presidential win at the time and had to finish the job later that evening.
SEE ALSO: Trump enjoys a 37-point lead in high-profile poll of GOP presidential field
Mr. Trump’s attorneys met with Mr. Smith’s team last Thursday, signaling action could be imminent. An indictment would add to a bevy of criminal charges facing Mr. Trump as he pursues the GOP nomination.
“The Radical Left Democrat Thugs shouldn’t be allowed to investigate me during, and in the middle of, my campaign for President. Why didn’t they file these ridiculous charges 2.5 years ago?” Mr. Trump wrote Monday. “They waited because they wanted to illegally and negatively influence the 2024 Presidential Election, arguably the most important Election in the history of the USA.”
Mr. Trump trounces the competition in early primary polling. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday said he enjoys a 34-point lead over this closest challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In the poll, Mr. Trump receives support from 54% of the electorate compared to 17% for Mr. DeSantis. The rest of the field is stuck in the single digits.
Previously, Mr. Smith secured a federal indictment from a grand jury in Florida for Mr. Trump’s alleged storage of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach and efforts to thwart archivists who wanted the papers.
In another case, Mr. Trump faces state charges in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business documents related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal — who both alleged extramarital affairs with Mr. Trump — and to a doorman at Trump Tower who alleged Mr. Trump had a love child. Mr. Trump denied all of their claims.
SEE ALSO: Trump wants GOP primary debate to be VP litmus test for ‘who I MIGHT consider’
Meanwhile, a prosecutor in Georgia is inching closer to a possible indictment of Mr. Trump over his bid to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to dig up enough votes to overtake Joseph R. Biden’s narrow victory in the state.
Yet Mr. Trump’s vast polling lead suggests his legal woes haven’t been a drag on his primary prospects, even as the former president casts the investigations as a way to blunt his campaign.
Mr. Trump boasted he wants to watch the other GOP candidates debate in Milwaukee on Aug. 23 because he needs a running mate.
“Let them debate so I can see who I MIGHT consider for Vice President!” he wrote.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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