House investigators have shown damning testimony. The Justice Department is close to issuing search warrants and subpoenas in the effort to overturn the election. Lindsey Graham and Rudy Giuliani are being summoned to testify before a grand jury.
Donald Trump doesn't seem to be deterred by anything.
Far from on his heels, the former president is considering an early announcement that he is running for president, a move designed to steal oxygen from Republican rivals and protect him from the damning revelations spilling out of his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Multiple news organizations have reported that he could announce a third White House bid as early as this month, but Trump recently backed off that idea, a Republican strategist told Insider.
Some of his up-and-coming rivals may be intimidated by an early announcement by Trump, but it wouldn't mean much in the long run.
It's not possible for Trump to use the millions of dollars in his political action committee to support his campaign. Federal campaign finance laws would cap donations to a Trump campaign at $2,900 per person, limiting the former president's ability to get wealthy donors. An early announcement by the former president would cause Republicans to focus on President Joe Biden and inflation in their campaign to regain control of Congress.
Potential charges stemming from his attempts to hold onto the White House wouldn't be deterred by an early announcement.
The high stakes of charging the former president for the Justice Department to remove itself from the politics of the Trump era would only increase if an announcement was made.
No matter how much an active candidacy would complicate a case for the Justice Department, former prosecutors and other legal experts said, Trump should not expect another run for president to serve as a force field against prosecution.
"Announcing years before an election, I don't think that will serve as the proper prophylactic to have DOJ back off," said former acting US attorney Michael Sherwin, who oversaw the initial prosecution in the final months of the Trump administration.
crowding out Republican rivals who prefer not to enter a contest against him is a political upside.
As he gears up for his reelection this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn't said if he'd run for president. It's not known how a Trump announcement would affect his decision making.
It's not lost on Trump. He sees DeSantis as a rival and, in conversations with advisors that have spilled into news reports, chafed at a governor who represents a new generation of Republican populists.
NBC News reported that some Republicans don't see Trump as the de-facto nominee for the party in four years.
According to a GOP strategist who has spoken to Trump's advisors, a main perspective for Trump would be that of his wife, Mrs. Trump.
Republicans want Trump to wait so they can help candidates in the November elections. Democrats are beleagured by soaring inflation and their failure to deliver on key aspects of Biden's agenda.
Republicans have focused much of their campaign messaging on the high prices weighing down voters under President Joe Biden's watch, and a Trump announcement could impact the 2022.
The person told the person to answer questions later. If Democrats are able to make the election about President Donald Trump, that could hurt the Republicans' chances of regaining the House, which they lost in the last two elections.
A top GOP strategist told Insider that a pre-midterm announcement from Trump would be a complete mess.
The person said that it would be terrible for candidates if they were asked about Trump's campaign and their thoughts on the January 6 hearings.
There are campaign finance laws that need to be waited upon. After an announcement, Trump would have to set up an official campaign account that would accept no more than $2,900 for donations from individuals, according to the executive director of Open Secrets.
Trump has the ability to raise unlimited sums through SuperPACs. He doesn't have to report all his spending from his political operation, which would include everything from payroll to travel.
It is easier for politicians to raise money if they are able to stand outside of the limits.
Trump has been accused of political bias in the past. In the face of an investigation into the Trump Organization, Trump's lawyers accused New York Attorney General Letitia James of prosecutorial misconduct and highlighted past statements in which she referred to Trump as an illegitimate president.
Trump used a label he had used against the Russia investigation.
The Justice Department has a longstanding policy against charging a sitting president. At a time when legal risks are mounting, Trump has lost his protection.
Randall Eliason, a George Washington University law professor and former public corruption prosecutor, said that the former president cannot immunize himself by declaring his candidacy early. He will claim that the Biden Justice Department is trying to take him out regardless of whether or not he announces his candidacy.
A former White House aide testified last week that Trump learned that some of his supporters were armed before he told them to march on the Capitol. The bombshell testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, once a top aide to MarkMeadows, shed light on Trump's mindset and activities ahead of the Capitol attack and eroded any potential legal defense that he was merely propounding well-founded concerns about election fraud.
Within a week of the Justice Department issuing subpoenas and executing search warrants, Hutchinson testified. On June 22, federal investigators searched the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who supported Trump's baseless election fraud claims, and FBI agents seized the phone of John Eastman, a conservative attorney behind a fraught legal theory for then-vice president Mike Pence to delay or block the
The extent of the Justice Department's inquiry is not clear. The testimony before the committee could support a prosecution.
Barb McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor and former US attorney in Detroit, said that a third run for president could affect the Justice Department to bring charges.
The policy of the Justice Department is to not bring cases that could affect the outcome of an election, according to McQuade. Around 60 days before an election, that usually results in lack of action. She said that a campaign announcement wouldn't have much effect on the DOJ investigation. I expect charges to be filed before then.
The areas of potential criminality that House lawmakers, lawyers, and judges had already identified were addressed by Hutchinson. In her two-hour appearance before the House select committee, Hutchinson recounted a conversation she had with then- White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who pulled her aside just days before January 6 out of concern about Trump's consideration of marching to the Capitol with supporters.
According to Hutchinson, Cipollone said "We're going to get charged with every crime imaginable."
Omission of an official proceeding, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, was one of the crimes that Cipollone was thinking about at the time. A federal judge in California said that the activities of the former president and his associates were a "coup in search of a legal theory."
The crowd that gathered near the White House for a "Stop the Steal" rally may have been incited by Trump. After fostering an "air of distrust and anger" with his claims, Trump should have realized that his supporters would have interpreted his speech as a call to action, according to a February ruling. Civil lawsuits against Trump were allowed by Mehta.
The decision on whether to charge Trump rests with the Justice Department, where Attorney General Garland has stressed that prosecutors will follow the law. No one is above the law according to Garland.
Republicans would protest any charges against Trump and the Justice Department would be accused of taking out Biden's opponent.
Norm Eisen, who served as counsel for House Democrats in Trump's first impeachment, told Insider that a 2020 candidacy would be a factor in any consideration of charges against Trump.
He told Insider that he couldn't allow a presidential candidate to self-pardon by announcing a reelection campaign too early.
Prosecutors should not allow his decision to influence them. I would prefer a world in which we don't have to make these decisions about an ex-president, but it would be worse to have a world in which an ex-president could violate the law without consequence.
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