Donald Trump canceled a press conference at Mar-a-Lago just days before a court hearing over claims he incited the January 6 attack.
The press conference was to be held on the first anniversary of the Capitol attack.
Legal experts said that Trump's comments would have put him in a deeper legal hole.
The 2020 election and Trump's speech about it will be at a rally in Arizona on January 15.
Donald Trump has spent his post-presidency mired in lawsuits and investigations, a swirl of legal scrutiny that would keep a more careful person quiet.
On the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, Trump wanted to hold a press conference, but he didn't.
The planned event at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, was canceled by Trump due to the "total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans and the Fake News Media."
He didn't say whether his lawyers advised him against the event. Legal experts told Insider that the former president would have been in trouble if he talked himself into trouble.
He does not pull any punches and that is why it is a boneheaded move. He is very reckless when he speaks in front of an audience.
During his rally in Arizona on January 15th, Trump will discuss his views about the 2020 election. The cancellation of the January 6 press conference means that Trump won't give a public speech just days before a crucial court hearing in cases accusing him of encouraging his supporters to storm the Capitol.
The hearing in Washington, DC, federal court, where a judge is set to hear Trump's arguments for dismissing lawsuits filed by Democratic lawmakers and Capitol police, would be complicated if any remarks at the press conference were made.
Trump's lawyers have argued that his comments at the Save America rally nearly a year ago are protected by the "absolute immunity" afforded to presidents.
The storming of the Capitol and the Save America rally were the result of a campaign to interfere with the certification of President Joe Biden's electoral victory, according to lawyers for House Democrats. Trump's motions to dismiss the lawsuits will be argued by Judge Mehta.
John Thune said he hoped Trump's comments would be helpful.
A legally dangerous move.
The Mar-a-Lago press conference had been panned as politically ill-conceived, with one former advisor pointing to it as evidence that he is getting terrible advice from his inner circle.
The Republicans were bracing for the remarks. In his December 21 statement, Trump denounced the House committee investigating the Capitol attack and indicated he would continue to deny the outcome of the 2020 election.
"Hopefully his comments will be helpful, not harmful," said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate's second-ranking Republican.
Legal experts said that the press conference and Trump's penchant for off-the-cuff remarks make the former president vulnerable to criminal and congressional investigations.
Qureshi said that any of Trump's remarks could be used against him and that they could shed light on the roles of advisors and associates already facing scrutiny over their conduct on January 6.
"He needs to be careful because he could incriminate himself or at least give prosecutors and law enforcement the opportunity to make derivative use of his statements to further explore the roles others close to him may have played," said Qureshi.
It is ill-advised from a political standpoint. It will be an additional source of scrutiny into his conduct on that day.
The office of Trump did not respond to questions about why he canceled the event or if he would take questions from the press.
The January 6 committee's interest in Trump's criminal culpability has been spoken about by Rep. Liz Cheney.
There is no upside to holding public events.
The House committee moved aggressively in its investigation into the January 6 attack because they expected Republicans to shut it down if they regained the majority in this year's elections. In the past several months, the panel has hired two former US attorneys as lead investigators, obtained thousands of records, and questioned several former administration officials and other close Trump associates.
The panel has become more vocal about the criminal culpability of Trump. In December, the committee took steps to hold former White House chief of staff MarkMeadows in contempt, and Liz Cheney made a reference to a criminal statute that has been used to prosecute hundreds of accused participants in the January 6 attack.
Cheney said that the testimony of Mr. Meadows would be used to ask if Donald Trump tried to obstruct or impede Congress's official proceeding to count electoral votes.
More than 700 people have been charged by the Justice Department for their part in the pro-Trump mob that took over the Capitol. Critics of the Justice Department under Attorney General Garland have voiced frustration with the lack of visible steps to investigate Trump while local prosecutors in New York and Atlanta have undertaken inquiries.
He's under investigation in a number of places. Any defense lawyer who has a client in that situation would discourage him from making public statements. Randall Eliason, a George Washington University law professor and former public corruption prosecutor, said there's no upside and all you can do is make things worse for yourself. Even if he gets it, Trump seems to be incapable of following that kind of advice.
More than 100 officers were injured and five people were killed in the violence that broke out in the Capitol building after Trump's election. Marcus Moore, a 10-year veteran of the Capitol police force, sued Trump under the Ku Klux Klan Act on Tuesday.
Business Insider has an original article.
