If another national politician had been indicted on charges of endangering national security, it would be an enormously sad and embarrassing moment. In fact, that politician might have already dropped out of the race.
But for Donald Trump, it was another opportunity to seize control of the news cycle, with a defiant speech last night arguing that he’s not only innocent but being persecuted by the feds.
Once again, Trump consumed all the oxygen in the room, leaving his rivals as mere footnotes as the press debated whether this second indictment would actually help him, at least among the loyalists who believe the Justice Department is conducting a witch hunt and that the former president was robbed in 2020.
HOW THE TRUMP INDICTMENT PUTS OUR COUNTRY ON TRIAL
The three cable news networks went wall to wall from the early morning, with video of Miami cops riding on bikes to the courthouse and a small crowd of protestors and counter-protestors. Then there was the inevitable Trump motorcade from his Doral golf club. Since nothing was going to happen until the 3 p.m. arraignment, the reason for the saturation coverage was simple: the Trump show is always good for ratings–even when he couldn’t be seen going inside (where he pleaded not guilty and was released without restrictions).
Hours before the arraignment, Trump went after special counsel Jack Smith yet again, calling him a "thug" and "Lunatic and Trump Hater, as are all his friends and family, who probably ‘planted’ information in the ‘boxes’ given to them." This is a crazy allegation–Trump took the documents from the White House, no one planted anything–and he offered no evidence.
What’s more, Trump posted about the "$5,000,000 bribe that was paid to Biden" as if it was a fact rather than something being investigated by House Republicans.
In his prime-time speech, after a campaign-style stop at a Cuban café, Trump spoke to such supporters as Sebastian Gorka and Mike Lindell at his Bedminster golf club.
In a scripted, relatively subdued speech, Trump ripped the indictment as "the most evil and heinous abuse of power," "fake and fabricated charges," and, cribbing a line from FDR about Pearl Harbor, "This day will go down in infamy."
DOJ 'NEEDS TO BE STOPPED BEFORE IT FULLY DESTROYS THE COUNTRY': MOLLIE HEMINGWAY
Trump denounced "the sham indictment put forth by the Biden administration…It’s Joe Biden and his corrupt Department of Injustice who think they’re above the law." And he went through what he depicted as far worse offenses by Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Biden.
The former president said the administration was "threatening me with 400 years in prison for possessing my own presidential papers." He said he was entitled to take whatever documents he wanted and the National Archives had nothing to say about it. (Actually, White House documents automatically become the property of the government under the Presidential Records Act, unless they are generated by the president’s own efforts, such as a journal.)
And, for good measure, Trump took shots at "Deranged Jack Smith," a "raging and uncontrolled Trump hater."
But despite having talked about him all day long, MSNBC and CNN did not air the speech live, while Fox News did carry it. That muffled his plan to dominate the spotlight, and reports of his rally-style address will remain the lead story, perhaps for days.
One interesting note is that some of the other Republican candidates have turned somewhat more critical of the front-runner, perhaps because of the details of the unsealed indictment and perhaps because Chris Christie is making it safer for them to do so
At a CNN town hall, Christie, a former federal prosecutor, called the indictment "a very tight, very detailed, evidence-laden indictment, and the conduct in there is awful… This is vanity run amok." Instead of trashing DOJ, he said, "how about blame him?"
Tim Scott, while questioning the government’s conduct, called it a "serious case with serious allegations."
Nikki Haley, calling Trump’s conduct "reckless," said "if this indictment is true, if what it says is actually the case, President Trump was incredibly reckless with our national security. More than that, I’m a military spouse. My husband’s about to deploy this weekend. This puts all of our military men and women in danger."
On the other hand, she now says she’s inclined to pardon Trump if she wins.
SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE'S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY'S HOTTEST STORIES
Equally intriguing is a Truth Social post in which Trump makes a vow if he is reelected: "I WILL APPOINT A REAL SPECIAL ‘PROSECUTOR’ TO GO AFTER THE MOST CORRUPT PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE USA, JOE BIDEN, THE ENTIRE BIDEN CRIME FAMILY, & ALL OTHERS INVOLVED WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR ELECTIONS, BORDERS, & COUNTRY ITSELF!"
Leaving aside that a president can’t appoint a special prosecutor–though he could ask his attorney general–Trump is proclaiming that he would use his power to unleash investigations on his political rival. That is exactly what he is accusing Joe Biden of doing, though there is no evidence that the president ever discussed the documents case with DOJ.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Perhaps Trump views this as payback–or believes that since he wouldn’t hesitate to push a politicized case, the Democrats must be doing the same thing.
