Trump poker drops (of the indictments) and makes the big refusal:does not go to the debate with the other hopefuls for the Republican nomination, because he is “too ahead” to confront them, “neither now nor ever”. The former president’s denial was in the air, as was his latest indictmentconcerning attempts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 elections in Georgia: the tycoon and 18 of his accomplices are accused of “conspiracy” and other crimes: they have until Friday 25 August to surrender to the authorities and be formally charged.
Arrived at fourth trial, Donald Trump faces the problem of having to manage so many hearings during the electoral campaign; and asks the judge who manages the procedure on the riot of January 6, 2021 to postpone the trial until April 2026, when, perhaps, he will have already been re-elected president and will have already ‘forgiven himself’ for all the crimes attributed to him.
The tycoon’s lawyers argue that the timetable for hearings in 2024 suggested by Jack Smith, the special prosecutor, conflicts with the other criminal and civil cases in which Trump is accused: the one on illegal payments to a porn star in New York; the one on ‘top secret’ documents stolen from the White House in Florida; and – last in chronological order, added last week – the one on attempt to distort the outcome of the vote in Georgia.
Washington federal district judge Tanya Chutkam, who was appointed by Barack Obama, will make a decision later this month, in a climate of growing tension. The far right that supports The Donald threatens prosecutors and magistrates on the web and, in particular, Fani Willis, the prosecutor of the case in Georgia. The FBI is investigating messages that include, among other things, explicit references to the names and addresses of jurors in the grand jury and in the trial, who should remain anonymous.
Usa 2024: Trump denies everything and avoids confrontation with rivals
The former president, who, as usual, denies any wrongdoing, had called a press conference for today, Monday 21 August, in which to present a dossier containing, according to him, “indisputable proof” of the Democrat fraud in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. But then, on his social Truth, Trump wrote that “the press conference is no longer necessary”: the report will become an element of his defense. His lawyers had expressed concern about a new media show.
The decision to dodge the debate with the aspirants to the Republican nomination Wednesday evening, August 23, live on Fox News from Milwaukee, comes as no surprise. The tycoon has never prepared for the confrontation – but, in reality, believes he does not need to train – and considers whether to propose an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to other TV channels as an alternative. one of his reference journalists.
One of the reasons why Trump does not want to participate in the debate is precisely the advantage over his rivals in the polls: by introducing himself, he would give them a chance to make themselves known nationwide and, perhaps, to grow towards him; without him, the show will have much lower appeal and will be seen by far fewer people.
On the other hand, many choices of the other candidates for nomination appear self-defeating and are, in fact, assists a Trump: such as the commitment to support, whatever the party’s candidate in the presidential elections, a sort of blank check to the tycoon.
The US press writes that the governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, considered the only potential anti-Trump, does not intend to attack the former president on stage in Milwaukee, but rather take it out on the ‘dwarfs’ who will be around him, perhaps in an attempt to ‘thin the field’ before the primaries start . The choice of DeSantis – jokes part of the press – explains why the governor’s campaign, almost held back by the ‘Trumpian’ past, does not take off. Even the Wall Street Journal, which had triumphantly welcomed his entry into the field, distanced himself from his economic programme, judged to be “unstable”.
The case of Georgia and the law against organized crime
The fourth indictment by Donald Trump refers to the actions taken by the then president to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential elections in the state: 13 the charges contested by the prosecution, including having incited a public official to violate the law and the Constitution – an echo of the phone call in which the tycoon enjoined Georgia officials to “find him the votes” to win -. His lawyers have already asked for the postponement of the trial to April 2026motivating him with the need for more time to prepare the defense.
The preliminary hearing, which Trump is expected to attend, is set for Monday, August 28. In the case, instructed by the attorney general of Fulton County – that of Atlanta -, Fani T. Willis, Democrat, the tycoon is accused with 18 other people, including two of his lawyers, John Eastman and Rudolph Giuliani, mayor of New York on September 11, 2001, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Officials from his campaign and the Justice Department are also involved.
No other former president had ever been indicted in US history. Trump has instead collected in less than five months four indictments and a total of 41 charges. The first indictment had come on March 30 and concerned a payment made in black porn actress Stormy Daniels; the second of her on June 9 for having guarded her in her estate of Mar-a-lago in Florida documents destined for the National Archives; the third on August 2, to have instigated the assault on the Capitol carried out by thousands of his troubled supporters on January 6, 2021 in an attempt to overturn the voters’ verdict.
According to many legal experts, the Georgia indictment is the most embarrassing and complex for the tycoon, also because prosecutor Willis, bringing the results of 30 months of investigations before a Grand Jury last week, resorted to a law passed to combat organized crime, which would leave little escape for the accused.
Moreover, that Trump’s attempts to overturn the outcome of the vote in Georgia, one of the decisive states in 2020, could involve crimes had already seemed evident when, at the material time, the US media had published the transcript of the president’s call to state authorities: one can, perhaps, be amazed at the time that elapsed between the facts and the indictment.