In recently released polling from the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, a resounding majority of Americans indicated they at least somewhat trust the federal Justice Department. The specific question was whether respondents had “confidence” in the department, and half of overall respondents — who constituted adults in general — said they had “only some” confidence. An additional 17 percent from the overall total said they had a “great deal” of confidence in the department.
Those Americans who have at least some faith in the federal Justice Department are starkly at odds with the consistent rhetoric from former President Donald Trump, who continues to claim as he faces multiple criminal cases that he is the victim of election interference because of his ongoing presidential campaign. In fact, all four of the criminal investigations that preceded Trump’s now four criminal cases were underway and publicly known before Trump confirmed his expected, latest run for the presidency. There also remains no specific evidence that any of the cases that Trump has faced have been handled procedurally in any manner substantially different from the many other charges and cases that regularly emerge from the country’s grand jury system.
Under that system, prosecutors themselves aren’t even the last words on whether charges will be issued. The juries must also provide their approval, which was seen in each of the four cases that Trump has faced so far. A recent report from a Fox affiliate in Arizona suggested that Trump could face a fifth criminal case, as matters in that state including the local efforts to assemble a sham slate of electors on Trump’s behalf after the 2020 presidential contest evidently remain under criminal investigation by the Arizona state attorney general.
In Georgia, Trump and the other defendants are expected to turn themselves in for processing. Including the former president, a total of 19 individuals were charged in Georgia with alleged involvement in a criminal conspiracy targeting that state’s election results from 2020.
