Donald Trump is facing legal, political headwinds as he looks to return

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As he prepares to tee-off at one of his golf courses in Florida, fellow players introduced Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States.

45th and 47th, Trump responded absurdly, before he drove off.

The quip a moment of levity on the links captured in the shaking video on the cellphone is a reminder that often another presidential run is on the former president’s mind. But the declaration belies the growing challenges he faces as a series of complex legal investigations have trapped Trump, his family and many comrades.

The investigations, which spread across multiple jurisdictions and considered everything from potential election fraud and interference to his role in the Jan. 6 insurgency, represent the most serious legal threat Trump has faced in decades. of a frequent litigation public life.

These are intensifying as a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that Trump’s grip on the GOP may be starting to loosen.

His popularity with Republicans is declining somewhat, with 71 percent saying they have a favorable opinion about Trump compared to 78 percent in an AP-NORC/USAFacts poll in September 2020.

But the new poll shows only a narrow majority of Republicans that 56 percent want him to run for president in 2024. The poll found that 44 percent of Republicans do not want Trump to run.

Despite the legal and political headwinds, those around Trump describe him as unconcerned, fueled by the sense of invincibility that has allowed him to rise from the destructive turns, including two impeachments, that will end in the careers of other politicians. He is at the forefront of power, and continues to tease a return to running as president.

He’s in good spirits, said Darrell Scott, a pastor in Ohio and an ally of Trump who met with the former president this week.

Trump huddled with top aides in Florida this week as he plans a midterm strategy that will serve as a springboard for future efforts. He will hold another campaign-style rally in Texas on Saturday before the March 1 state election that will formally begin the midterm primary season.

Representatives for Trump did not respond to requests for comment on investigations or polls. In interviews and appearances, mostly at right-wing media outlets, he often boasts of his record of endorsement as he aims to reward candidates who pledge allegiance to his party views and manage his lies in elections.

But his efforts to freeze the field of Republicans looking at the 2024 field are uneven. Some, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have so far refused to demur, make speeches and travel to major states suggesting they are strictly considering campaign.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is also seen as another contender for the nomination and caught attention recently when he said one of his biggest regrets as governor was not pushing back when Trump encouraged Americans to stay home in the early days of the pandemic. COVID to stop spreading the virus.

As Trump tries to move forward, so do the legal cases against him.

On Monday, Georgia judges approved a request for a special Fulton County prosecutor’s grand jury to investigate whether Trump and others violated the law by trying to get Georgia officials to dismiss the victory. by President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said his office has received information indicating a reasonable possibility that the election was “subject to possible criminal interference.

In New York, state Attorney General Letitia James claimed in a court filing last week that her office discovered evidence that Trump’s company was using fraudulent or deceptive valuations on golf clubs, skyscrapers and its other property to obtain loans and tax benefits.

Although his attorneys said they have not yet decided whether to file a lawsuit in connection with the allegations, they revealed that the amount of land donations made in New York and California was excessive in the papers submitted to the IRS and reported that Trump’s Manhattan penthouse is the wrong size. , among other deceptive estimates.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is also working with James ’office on the parallel criminal investigation, which resulted in lawsuits last summer against Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, and its longtime head of finance, Allen Weisselberg.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the Jan. 6 committee investigating the violent insurgency interviewed hundreds of witnesses, issued dozens of subpoenas and obtained thousands of pages of records, including texts, emails and phone records from people close to Trump, as well as thousands of pages of White House records that Trump has fought to protect from public view.

These include: a draft executive order proposing the use of Department of Defense assets to seize voting machines, committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson.

A top Justice Department official said this week that prosecutors are investigating fake certificates sent to the National Archives with fabricated electors falsely declaring that Trump won the seven states he defeated as part of a desperate campaign to upset voters.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department remains committed to “holding all offenders accountable on Jan. 6, to any degree, under the law, whether they were present that day or otherwise. is criminally responsible for attacking our democracy.

As president, Trump is much more protected from legal consequences. But not anymore.

David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Miami, said that, until now, Trump’s legal problems have been largely relegated to money matters, with various lawsuits seeking payment. But he described what Trump now faces, particularly in Georgia and Washington, as more significant, because they include potential exposure to criminal punishment.

If they can prove the intention, the knowledge, the involvement in an ongoing conspiracy, he said, that is potential criminal exposure, something he has never faced before.

But Trump’s co-workers say he and those around him are likely to continue to withhold investigations because of nothing but politically motivated witch searches aimed at destroying his future prospects. politics.

After spending so many years moving from one crisis to the next, from investigating Russia to inquiries about everything from her hotel rental in Washington to payments to a former porn star, being in under investigation at TrumpWorld is common.

For many on her board, A badge of honor could be subpoenaed, said Stephanie Grisham, the former White House press secretary who resigned Jan. 6 and has since written an anti-Trump book.

It’s easy to say It’s just another witch hunt ’cause that’s what we told everyone, she said.

People are doubling down. That’s what we do at TrumpWorld, we double down. And you just claim witch hunt, you say political theater. And that’s how you get your supporters to continue to donate money and to continue to believe they’re on the good side.

(Only the headline and image of this report can be reproduced by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)

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