Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks on as he speaks during a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 29, 2023.
Lindsay Dedario | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday he expects to be hit with new criminal charges by next week stemming from an Atlanta prosecutor’s investigation of his efforts to overturn his loss in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
“I probably have another” indictment coming, Trump said during a campaign event in New Hampshire. He referred to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the first Black woman to hold the position, as “a young racist in Atlanta.”
Trump’s comments came days after he pleaded not guilty to federal charges in Washington related to his efforts to reverse President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020.
That case, brought by special counsel Jack Smith, is one of three active criminal cases against Trump, the current frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Trump predicted that another was on the way.
“I should have four” indictments “by some time next week,” Trump told an enthusiastic crowd of supporters in Windham.
Willis has signaled she will seek indictments in mid-August. Her probe began more than two-and-a-half years ago, after it was revealed that Trump had pressured Georgia election officials to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s win in the Peach State.
Two grand juries were empaneled last month in Fulton County Superior Court, either of which could be used by Willis to seek criminal charges related to her election probe.
Trump in Tuesday’s speech railed against Willis as someone who “wants to indict me for a perfect phone call,” echoing language he used to defend himself when he was facing his first impeachment proceedings in 2019.
“I challenged the election in Georgia, which I have every right to do, which I was right about, frankly,” Trump told the crowd.
The remarks came amid an extended diatribe about his numerous legal battles, which he claims are all part of a conspiracy to undermine his presidential campaign.
It’s “all about election interference,” Trump said before repeating his false claim that his 2020 election loss was tainted by widespread fraud.
He pointed to a dispute that has already arisen in the D.C. case over a protective order sought by federal prosecutors, which would bar Trump from publicly revealing some of the evidence gathered in the investigation.
Trump’s lawyers have asked for a narrower order. But the Department of Justice balked at this, accusing them of trying to allow Trump “to try this case in the media rather than in the courtroom.” The defense lawyers on Tuesday asked a judge to delay a hearing on the protective order until next week.
Legal experts have predicted that Trump’s frequent attacks on various people connected to his criminal cases could lead to a gag order against him. Unlike the protective order, which is about preventing the improper disclosure of information during the discovery process, a gag order could restrict what Trump is allowed to say about his case.
Trump claimed that the protective order was an attempt to stifle his free speech. Speaking aloud, he imagined the hypothetical scenario of being asked by the press about his cases and being legally barred from responding.
“Somehow that’s not good for votes,” Trump said, before adding, “I will talk about it, I will. They’re not taking away my First Amendment right.”