Former President Donald Trump recently declared in a rally, “I can do whatever I want, but I did nothing wrong.” The Republican leader, who is being investigated for financial fraud and is charged with four counts of indictment, does not appear to be reining in his public pronouncements. Instead of approaching the criminal allegations against him as a drawback, Trump has openly proclaimed his legal woes, making several fundraising appeals that exploit the indictments as a call to arms for contributions. Hence jeopardizing his chances of receiving a perfect score in court.
As per The Washington Post , at a political rally in Florida last week, Trump repeated his previous statements that he was justified in storing confidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago house and exclusive club while bragging about information that he implied might be classified. “I don’t think this has ever been told,” he stated during the rally hosted by Club 47, a campaign team working to re-elect him. “They’ll say, ‘Oh, it’s classified information.’ Maybe it is, but I don’t think so,” he added. Then, the ex-president began to relate a tale about a 2020 American operation that resulted in the death of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force. Israel was allegedly a crucial collaborator in the attempt, according to Trump, who later withdrew. “We had everything all set to go, and the night before it happened, I got a call that Israel would not be participating in this attack,” Trump said. “Nobody’s heard this story before, but I’d like to tell it to Club 47 because you’ve been so loyal and so beautiful.”
When informed of Trump’s remarks, a former intelligence official who worked for the Trump administration expressed shock. The official anonymously stated that what the political figure had revealed was strictly secret information. Trump’s defense is severely harmed by such public admissions, according to his attorneys, as he frequently appears to acknowledge specific aspects of the crimes he is accused of perpetrating on camera.“Trump’s public statements erode his defenses enormously,” Ty Cobb, who served as a White House lawyer in the Trump administration said. “Flip-flopping between ‘I had the power’ with the classified documents and “there was a process” — both acknowledge the possession of the classified documents.” Lying about it is compelling evidence as to the consciousness of guilt,” Cobb added. “The prosecutors can play that snippet every day if they want, and they will play that and other interviews at will. He has confessed publicly, though perhaps unknowing, to virtually every element of the Mar a Lago case. … Every unscripted thing he says hurts him.”
Trump’s legal plan is to postpone the trials as long as possible, ideally until after the election, while his political strategy is to attack the prosecutors and depict himself as a victim despite obtaining a gag order during his NY financial case trial, aides claimed. The counselors also claimed that he frequently writes on social media without first getting the approval of his attorneys and that these attorneys frequently learn of his statements at the same time as the general public. Trump spokesman Steven Cheung stated that he and his lawyers “are fighting together — in the courtroom and the court of public opinion”
“I understand why the prosecutors are trying to get a gag order, but they should be a little careful what they wish for, because every time the guy opens his mouth he seems to dig himself a deeper hole,” said Jim Walden, a lawyer and former federal prosecutor in New York, who doubts the effectiveness of a Trump gag order. “There is no gag order that is going to stop him, no one is really going to put him in jail during this period of time, so a gag order is at best an ineffective tool to keep him quiet,” Walden said. Trump spokesman Cheung said that gag orders would further restrict his constitutional rights.“We anticipate further actions to silence President Trump and tilt the scales of justice in their favor as his lead in the polls grows stronger each day. They do not trust the American people to make their own decisions, we do.”