Donald Trump Will Surrender to Authorities on Tuesday
Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on 37 felony charges. The indictment comes from a federal investigation into alleged
Ivy Griffith
Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on 37 felony charges.
The indictment comes from a federal investigation into alleged document mishandling by the former POTUS, the case being helmed by special counsel Jack Smith.
News broke of the indictment late Thursday.
By Friday morning, the political world was in chaos. Between 7PM Thursday at 10AM Friday, Trump posted or shared on Truth Social over 62 times, showing the chaos that was his state of mind.
View this post on Instagram
Early Friday afternoon, two of Trump’s lawyers abruptly resigned, and the former President announced that he would be represented by a new lawyer.
Not long after, the full indictment was unsealed.
What it detailed was an extraordinary laundry list of crimes, with 31 of the charges related to violations of the Espionage Act.
If Trump were convicted of each of the 37 counts, and given a maximum sentence, he could face as much as 400 years in prison. And even if he were only convicted of some of them, he may be looking at the rest of his life in prison.
But that’s all speculation for now.
Special counsel Smith took the unusual step of making a formal statement on the case late Friday, imploring Americans to read the full indictment, and to understand the “scope” and “gravity” of the crimes described therein.
The unsealing of the indictment and Smith’s statement were both likely attempts to avert days of speculation and political spectacle as the world awaits Trump’s arraignment, which is set for Tuesday, June 13 – just one day before Trump’s 77th birthday.
The Guardian reports, “Donald Trump is preparing for his second arraignment in two months after learning he would face seven federal charges in connection to his mishandling of classified documents.
The former US president and current 2024 candidate is expected to surrender himself to authorities in Miami on Tuesday at 3pm ET …”
But even though he plans to surrender, Trump isn’t going down fighting.
Wow. From the just unsealed Trump indictment. pic.twitter.com/QdDPoUm4tS
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) June 9, 2023
He’s been working overtime on Truth Social, posting about the “injustice” he says he’s experiencing at the hands of the Department of Justice.
On Friday, the former President resumed rapid-fire posting, complaining about President Joe Biden’s mishandled documents, which were – by contrast – legally and eagerly returned to the National Archives.
Late Friday, Trump posted, “Attorney General Garland, Lisa Monaco, Matt Colangelo (now working at the D.A’s Office to ‘GET TRUMP’), Deranged Jack Smith and, of course, Biden himself, who is losing to me in the Polls (by a lot), are all Trump Haters. Jack Smith’s wife, Katy Chevigny, is the biggest Hater of them all. There is no way they can treat me fairly—but we will win, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The former President seems to be either putting on a front, or unaware of just how much legal peril he is in.
And the latter possibility could be due to the fact that sources close to the FPOTUS say he was somewhat misled by his former legal team, who engaged in “happy talk.”
According to reports, they tried to encourage Trump not to worry – although clearly, their rosy outlook was misguided.
Smith has requested a speedy trial, perhaps hoping to avoid running into timing conflicts with the Republican primary season next year and the looming general election.