The political weaponization of the U.S. justice system continues as former President Donald Trump has been indicted on federal criminal charges for a second time.
Critics say the Biden administration has tasked Special Counsel Jack Smith with the goal of taking down Trump and interfering in the 2024 presidential election. Smith is currently leading two investigations against Trump, including the classified documents case as well as the Jan. 6 case.
“This is the second federal indictment the former president faces out of Smith’s investigation,” Fox News confirmed. “This is the second time in U.S. history that a former president has faced federal criminal charges.” (Trending Now: Hunter Biden Star Witness Drops Bombshell Testimony)
BREAKING: Trump indicted on 4 counts pic.twitter.com/XQKaleXZpu
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) August 1, 2023
Trump faces 4 counts in the case as Smith was investigating whether Trump interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election. The criminal allegations include conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump supporters entered the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College results in favor of Joe Biden.
If Trump wins the 2024 presidential election, he has vowed to fire Special Counsel Jack Smith who is leading the investigation into Trump’s alleged improper retention of classified records.
“The House of Representatives drafted articles of impeachment against him again and ultimately voted to impeach him on a charge of inciting an insurrection for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — making him the first and only president in history to be impeached, and ultimately acquitted, twice,” the report added.
A Trump campaign spokesperson said, “This is nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election, in which President Trump is the undisputed frontrunner, and leading by substantial margins.”
“But why did they wait two and a half years to bring these fake charges, right in the middle of President Trump’s winning campaign for 2024? Why was it announced the day after the big Crooked Joe Biden scandal broke out from the Halls of Congress?” the spokesperson added. “The answer is, election interference!” the spokesperson continued. “The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.”
“President Trump has always followed the law and the Constitution, with advice from many highly accomplished attorneys,” the spokesperson said. “These un-American witch hunts will fail and President Trump will be re-elected to the White House so he can save our Country from the abuse, incompetence, and corruption that is running through the veins of our Country at levels never seen before.” The Trump spokesperson concluded, “Three years ago we had strong borders, energy independence, no inflation, and a great economy. Today, we are a nation in decline. President Trump will not be deterred by disgraceful and unprecedented political targeting!”
With three criminal indictments under his belt and his former vice president running against him, Trump has still managed to crush the Republican primary field in the polls. It’s becoming very clear to polling analysts that this Republican primary cycle is unlike any other in U.S. history.
BREAKING: Trump has been indicted by phony special prosecutor Jack Smith – [UPDATE: FULL INDICTMENT] https://t.co/7XkY8XwySE pic.twitter.com/YVlMxlOA40
— ✟ Right Scoop ✟ (@trscoop) August 1, 2023
As the frontrunner and a former president, Trump is dominating the early primary season in an unprecedented way. He maintains a strong lead in key early primary state polls. Trump holds the lead in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina by 23 points, 28 points, 30 points and 23 points, respectively.
Based on polls conducted between June 10 and June 26, Trump is leading the GOP field by over 30 points, according to RealClearPolitics (RCP). The only other candidate receiving noticeable support is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but it remains consistently lower than support for Trump.
Kyle Kondik, a nonpartisan polling analyst at the University of Virginia, said, “This GOP primary is truly unprecedented, because Trump is not technically an incumbent, but Republican voters seem to be treating him as at least a quasi-incumbent.”
“This primary is similar to 2016 in the sense that the field is large, meaning that it’ll be hard for a non-Trump to consolidate the non-Trump supporters,” Kondik continued.
GOP polling analyst Jon McHenry agreed with Trump’s unprecedented performance in the Republican primary. He even argued that Trump appears to be reshaping of the party. “This really is a unique cycle, at least since we’ve used primaries and caucuses as the primary vehicle to nominate our presidential candidates,” McHenry began. “In that time, we haven’t had an incumbent president lose a reelection and run again, much less lead in the polls.”
“President Trump’s lead right now is in part a testament to the extent to which he reshaped the party from a conservative party to a populist party,” he added. “With the New York charges in particular being seen as politically motivated and questionable legally — with a very different context than holding top secret documents in an unsecure location — the Republicans who might have been ready to move on to a fresh face have at least for now rallied back to the former president,” McHenry said.
“Is there a comparable election? Nope. And that’s fine,” Nathan Klein, pollster for OnMessage Inc., said. “The one thing Americans, and especially the GOP primary electorate, don’t want is to do things the way they have been done.”
2024 GOP Primary Polling Trends among likely voters by Echelon Insights (A/B)
January
Trump — 36% (+2)
DeSantis — 34%Feb.
Trump — 46% (+15)
DeSantis — 31%March
Trump — 49% (+23)
DeSantis — 26%May
Trump — 49% (+30)
DeSantis — 19%JUNE
Trump — 49% (+33)
DeSantis — 16% pic.twitter.com/Ve9hn4RWgs— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) July 4, 2023
John McLaughlin, CEO and partner of the polling firm McLaughlin & Associates, said Trump’s lead in the Republican primary is “historic.”
“Compared to Trump’s success — on the economy, on national security, on the border and other issues — Biden’s failures are glaring, and there’s really a lot of buyer’s remorse,” McLaughlin said. “President Trump is leading in the national popular vote, and Republicans have not seen that since 2004. This is historic in multiple ways, but I think the epitome of it is that Joe Biden has indicted his political opponent, his leading political opponent — that’s never happened in American history. That’s what happens in communist countries,” McLaughlin continued.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung also acknowledged the unprecedented level of Trump’s performance in the polls. “President Trump continues to dominate in poll after poll — both nationally and statewide,” Cheung said. “He is the only person who is beating Joe Biden by significant margins because voters know President Trump’s return to the White House means a strong economy, a secure border, and a safer America.”
