2023-06-14 17:26:12
Anthony ZurcherBBC North America correspondent
June 14, 2023
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Caption,
Trump visited the well-known Versailles Cuban restaurant in Miami after attending court.
The indictment against Donald Trump unfolded in two courts on Tuesday afternoon: a federal court in Florida and the court of public opinion.
Inside the Miami courthouse, Trump and his legal team were restrained. One of Trump’s lawyers told the judge that the former president pleaded not guilty to all charges. There was some back and forth about what kind of contact he might have with potential witnesses. The former president was released without restrictions on his travels.
Outside the courthouse and on social media, the scene was very different.
defense and counter attack
Throughout the day, the former president posted several messages on his Truth Social platform, insulting special counsel Jack Smith and questioning why he is not investigating alleged crimes committed by Democrats.
“One of the saddest days in the history of our country,” he wrote. “We are a country in decline!”
It’s standard rhetoric from Trump, who tends to launch his fiercest attacks when he feels most threatened.
The other message Trump sent after his appearance was political and more subtle, albeit laced with typical Trumpist theatrics.
His convoy stopped at Versailles restaurant, a Miami Cuban cafeteria and bakery, very popular with Little Havana residents and tourists.
While he was there, he shook hands, took pictures and made brief comments, while customers sang “Happy Birthday” to him: the former president turns 77 this Wednesday.
It looked and felt like a typical encounter for a politician on the campaign trail in a battleground state. It was a visible sign that, for Trump, his run for the White House is moving forward, damn the accusations!
A problem for your rivals
This isn’t exactly good news for the other contenders for the GOP nomination, who aren’t quite sure how to respond to Trump’s latest indictment.
Some, like former governors Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, have gone on the attack, criticizing the former president’s conduct and calling on him to end his campaign.
Ron DeSantis, the closest to Trump in the polls, has directed his criticism at federal prosecutors. It may be a reflection of the Florida governor’s caution not to anger Trump’s supporters, who, according to polls, often view him as his second best.
Former Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s UN ambassador Nikki Haley fall somewhere in the middle, trying to walk a fine line between criticizing their Republican rival and not incurring the ire of their supporters.
Sometimes that walk can feel more like a wobble.
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Caption,
The Republican campaign is already underway.
Last week, Haley said this impeachment “is not the way justice should be pursued” in the US. On Monday, he criticized Trump for being “incredibly reckless” with the country’s national security. On Tuesday, she stood by that comment, but added that she would be “inclined” to forgive Trump if she became president.
“It would be terrible for the country to have a former president imprisoned for years for a document case,” he said.
This all gets more complicated as many Republican politicians seem to be moving towards a (political) war stance.
“We’re not going to stand for it,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, said of the impeachment. House Republicans promise an aggressive investigation of the Justice Department’s handling of the case.
Senator JD Vance of Ohio has vowed to delay the confirmation of three of Biden’s nominees to the Justice Department, threatening to “crittle his department.”
The more the impeachment against Trump is framed as a showdown between Biden and Republicans, the more any Republican criticism of the former president will be seen as a sop to political opponents, and the greater the risk that they will go on the offensive against the former president.
All this could obscure the real mystery at the center of this new accusation, which also could be Trump’s biggest weakness in this case.
image copyrightGetty Images
Caption,
Donald Trump waves after hearing the charges against him in a Miami courthouse.
In Trump’s first indictment in New York, the Stormy Daniels case, the motive seems clear.
Who wouldn’t try to avoid an embarrassing accusation of an adulterous relationship with an adult movie star right before the election? However, the commercial fraud offenses charged in that case are, according to legal experts, an unusual interpretation of state law.
In the federal case, the crimes are clear. Trump is accused of mishandling confidential government information, obstructing a federal investigation and lying to federal investigators.
But the reason remains unclear.
Why didn’t the former president hand over all the classified documents when the government asked him to? Why did he hunker down and fight the investigators, when cooperation could have ended the investigation?
The former president’s rivals could try to get him to answer these questions, and do so in a way that convinces Republican voters that Trump doesn’t deserve to be the party’s nominee.
To win, they may have to make the former president explain himself.
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