Leading up to the indictment and you can be sure following, Trump and his followers will be pointing the finger everywhere but at the person who committed the crime.
As we often do, we are providing you with quality sources on the indictment and his reaction.
CNN’s Reliable Sources with Oliver Darcy.
As soon as the news of the indictment broke, Trump’s medial universe started the attacks on the rule of law.
Fox News, Sean Hannity, Breitbart, Gateway Pundit all began to attack and denigrate the U.S. Justice System, and claimed it was prejudiced against conservatives. Excuse me – have then looked at SCOTUS lately?
Read Darcy’s article on all the ways the far-right media is going.
Trump attacks special counsel Jack Smith on social media despite warnings from his legal team – CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
“Former President Donald Trump is attacking special counsel Jack Smith in a series of posts on Truth Social following his indictment, despite repeated warnings from his legal team that everything he says publicly could be used against him.
Trump has claimed Smith is “deranged,” a “Trump hater” and labeled him “a thug” after the special counsel made a brief statement about the former president’s indictment Friday.
While, unsurprising, given his attacks on the last special counsel who investigated him, Trump’s latest diatribe comes as he is still finalizing what his legal team will look like when he arrives in Miami on Tuesday. Todd Blanche has taken the lead on the team but is trying to add another Florida-based attorney before Trump is due in court after two attorneys also handling the case departed abruptly.
Whether the client’s repeated attacks on Smith hurt those efforts remains to be seen. But Trump’s legal team has cautioned him in recent days not to attack Smith — advice he has clearly ignored.”
Trump lashes out at ‘deranged lunatic’ and ‘psycho’ Jack Smith as startling secret papers charges revealed – The Independent (UK)
“Donald Trump has lashed out at special counsel Jack Smith, branding the federal prosecutor a ‘deranged lunatic’ and ‘psycho’ for indicting him over mishandling of secret national security papers.
The former president attacked Mr Smith on his Truth Social platform after the Department of Justice’s 49-page, 37-count indictment against him was unsealed on Friday.
‘This is the man who caused the Lois Lerner catastrophe with the IRS. He went after Evangelicals and Great Americans of Faith. The United States had to apologize, and pay major damages for what this deranged lunatic did,’ stated twice-impeached Mr Trump.
‘He had a unanimous loss in the Supreme Court. His wife is a Trump Hater, just as he is a Trump Hater—a deranged “psycho” that shouldn’t be involved in any case having to do with ‘Justice,’ other than to look at Biden as a criminal, which he is!’
The indictment details the charges against Mr Trump and Walt Nauta, a former US Navy noncommissioned officer who left government service to work for Mr Trump after his term ended in January 2021.
2024 Republican hopefuls rebuke the Justice Department, not Trump after indictment – Reuter, Nathan Layne
Trumps 2024 rivals have condemned the Justice Department for its move to charge Trump over his handling of classified documents, underscoring their fear of upsetting his core supporter.
“Instead of using the indictment to undermine Trump’s bid for the White House, however, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, U.S. Senator Tim Scott and Nikki Haley were among the candidates accusing the Justice Department of political bias, highlighting a stance that has become central to many of their own campaigns.” Read Layne’s full article.
From NPR Politics’ senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro offers four ways to think about the indictment:
1. Not much has affected Trump’s trajectory to this point.
2. Trump has spent years, almost a decade now undermining the Justice Department and the FBI.
3. Watch his Republican rivals.
4. The 2024 election is going to be really weird.
Read Montanaro’s full article and his take on how the indictment and the current standing in the primary make for a very unusual and extraordinary election ahead.
Former President Trump’s unsealed indictment, annotated – By Zachary B. Wolf and Curt Merrill, CNN
Wolf and Merrill breakdown the 37 counts in the Federal indictment against Trump for retention of classified documents and conspiracy with a top aide to hide them from the government and his own attorneys. US v. Trump – USDC SOFL 3-80101.
Important to read and know what Trump faces.
Follow these quotes to more on the indictment (from CNN’s list).
- CNN.com’s banner headline: “Trump faces Espionage Act charge as part of 7-count indictment” (CNN)
- Matt Drudge wonders: “DOWNFALL OF THE DON?” (DRUDGE)
- The WaPo’s historic lede: “Former president Donald Trump said Thursday night that he’s been charged by the Justice Department in connection with the discovery that hundreds of classified documents were taken to his Mar-a-Lago home after he left the White House — a seismic event in the nation’s political and legal history.” (WaPo)
- “I can’t stress enough that it doesn’t matter how Trump *feels* about this indictment, and yet that’s how every news org leads these stories,” contended The New Yorker’s Ian Crouch. (Twitter)
- “Tonight has a bit of the feeling of Election Night. Trump comes out, jumps the gun, tries to set narrative,” Bill Carter observed. “But there are still TONS of votes (in this case, evidence) out there, and then reality starts to sink in.” (Twitter)