Donald Trump is undoubtedly facing his third indictment – one that I was never sure would be brought.
And the source is… Trump himself.
As with his first indictment – the wobbly Stormy Daniels case – Trump is trying to at least control the narrative by saying his attorneys gave him the “HORRIBLE NEWS” about having received a target letter from the Justice Department. And for “deranged Jack Smith” to send such a letter giving him four days to appear before the grand jury (he won’t), that “almost always means an Arrest and Indictment,” Trump said on Truth Social.
In terms of the significance to American history, there’s no question that the effort to overturn the 2020 election and the Capitol riot are more important than payments to a porn star or improperly withholding classified documents.
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Trump also invokes his candidacy: “Merrick Garland…, together with Joe Biden’s Department of Injustice, have effectively issued a third Indictment and Arrest of Joe Biden’s NUMBER ONE POLITICAL OPPONENT, who is largely dominating him in the race for the Presidency.” (Actually, three recent polls show Biden leading Trump by 1 or 2 points – a statistical tie – and one an actual tie. Plus, it’s way early.)
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Republicans, led by Kevin McCarthy, have embraced the argument that this is a partisan attempt by an out-of-control Justice Department to damage their party’s presidential front-runner. But they rarely engage on the substance of these indictments (again, none of us has seen this one).
Marjorie Taylor Greene called the indictment “absolute bullsh**,” saying “this is the only way that the Democrats have to beat President Trump is to arrest him, smear him, charge him with ridiculous charges.”
The president’s pressure on Mike Pence to block the Electoral College certification – which he had no power to do, even as the mob was chanting to hang him – could also be part of the equation.
So the indictment may involve various conspiracy charges to defraud the United States, as well as damning details we don’t know from the likes of Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani.
I still think this is a tough case to prove.
In normal times, one indictment would be enough to knock a candidate out of the race. Yet here we are debating whether Trump can win after being indicted three, and possibly four, times. Love him or hate him, you have to admit: Only he would have the resilience to keep on fighting.