Former US President Donald Trump has struck rough tones after the renewed indictment against him. During a speech in Windham, New Hampshire, Trump complained that he would not be able to attend campaign events because he was sitting in the courtroom for “bullshit”. The crowd then cheered and shouted “Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit”. Trump repeatedly railed against the judiciary and made them contemptible. However, he does not usually use such expletives. Meanwhile, the responsible judge in the case set a hearing date – Trump can stay away from this, however.
The 77-year-old is the first ex-president in US history to face criminal charges. Trump was indicted last week for his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The Republican, who wants to return to the White House after the 2024 election, lost to his Democratic opponent Joe Biden. To this day he does not recognize this defeat and spreads the lie about electoral fraud. The new indictment is the second federal charge against Trump and the third overall.
“This will be the future of America’s elections, where an incumbent president tells his attorney general to impeach the opponent to try to bring down the opponent,” he fumed in New Hampshire. Trump presents the charges against himself as political persecution. In the race for the presidential candidacy, however, criminal prosecution has not harmed him so far – in internal party polls by Republicans, he leads by a wide margin.
Special Counsel requests protection order
In order to maintain independence, US Attorney General Merrick Garland had appointed a special investigator in the sensitive investigation against Trump and thus outsourced the investigation. The minister also hired a special counsel to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents from his time as vice president. Garland was proposed as Attorney General by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate.
After the indictment, Trump had already reacted in the usual manner on the online platform Truth Social, which he co-founded, with verbal attacks and referred to freedom of speech. According to special counsel Jack Smith, his statements are directed against witnesses, judges and lawyers involved in the criminal proceedings. They are evidence that Trump cannot be relied upon to keep secret confidential information disclosed to him during the course of the proceedings, Smith wrote in a motion. There is a risk that Trump will use evidence to intimidate witnesses.
Smith therefore asked the court to show Trump and his lawyers limits on the handling of sensitive information as part of a protective order. In such protective orders, the court regulates that the disclosure of sensitive information is only permitted to certain persons under certain conditions. One of the aims is to protect witnesses. The judge in charge has now ordered a hearing on this topic for this Friday. The question will be whether the judge will prohibit Trump from making public certain evidence collected as part of the criminal investigation.
Trump pleads ‘not guilty’
Trump himself does not have to be present at this hearing in the US capital Washington. The judge had previously scheduled another date for August 28th. Again, Trump’s presence is not necessary. There, the further procedure is to be decided, and thus possibly also the date for the start of the process. Trump’s lawyers are trying to delay this appointment, citing the complexity of the case as the reason.
The Republican, who wants to run again in the 2024 presidential election, is accused, among other things, of orchestrating a conspiracy against the state. Trump pleaded not guilty.
