Former President Donald Trump continues to comment on his ongoing criminal prosecutions via Truth Social, the alternative social media platform founded after Trump’s removal from mainstream sites that followed the Capitol riot in early 2021.
He claims the proceedings he is facing should simply not be allowed, in effect challenging the basis of the U.S. justice system. Though he continues to credit the charges he faces to President Joe Biden, there is no apparent evidence indicating that the current president has had any direct involvement in bringing these criminal cases, though he nominated Merrick Garland to lead the federal Justice Department. Neither is there any apparent evidence that the cases that Trump is facing were handled in any substantial way differently from the other charges that ordinarily move through the grand jury process, amid which these juries must approve allegations like Trump’s charges before they’re formalized.
“Isn’t is TERRIBLE that a Political Opponent can haphazardly charge you with FAKE crimes in the middle of your campaign in order to interfere with your time & message, and there is nothing you can do to stop this travesty of “justice,”” Trump said Friday. “They had 2.5 years to file, long before the campaign started. Another Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX. Should not be allowed to happen!”
Trump posted a perceptibly threatening statement shortly after this post that sparked a request from U.S. prosecutors for a protective order, though a statement from a spokesperson associated with the ex-president claimed that his intended targets weren’t anyone involved in the multiple criminal cases he is facing. “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” he said online. The spokesperson claimed these comments referred to special interest groups and super PACs, straining credibility for some. Trump has already at least tried to exert a continuing political power inside the GOP, repeatedly helping muster challenges to elected members of the party who’ve opposed him, however briefly. Liz Cheney, defeated in her primary by a Trump-backed opponent who replaced her in the House, is one example.
