Trump will break cover TODAY as he addresses supporters in Georgia and North ... trends now
Donald Trump is poised to make his first public appearances since being handed his bombshell indictment, where he will likely try to rally support after vowing to fight the federal charges.
Still a front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination despite his mounting legal woes, Trump is still set to speak to friendly Republican audiences in both Georgia and North Carolina for consecutive scheduled appearances come Saturday.
Unsealed on Friday, the 49-page indictment accuses Trump, 76, of mishandling classified documents after leaving office in 2021, as well as obstruction of justice.
It contains 37 counts pertaining to those charges, as well as photographs showing mounds of document-filled boxes were illegally stored at his Florida estate for the better part of a year.
Since being handed a summons to appear in a Miami court next week, Trump has repeatedly branded the case to a politically motivated 'witch hunt' brought on by his successor Joe Biden. He is expected to use his platform Saturday to rebuke the charges, while adding on to assertions that have painted himself as the victim.
Donald Trump is poised to make his first public appearances since being handed his bombshell indictment, where he will likely try to rally support after vowing to fight the federal charges
It contains 37 counts pertaining to those charges, as well as photographs showing mounds of document-filled boxes were illegally stored at his Florida estate for the better part of a year.
'Trump is a fighter, and the kinds of people that attend these conventions love a fighter,' said Jack Kingston, an ex-Georgia congressman who supported Trump in 2016 and 2020, of the former president's planned speech at a state party convention in his home state.
Meanwhile, in the latest in a steady stream of posts to Truth social aired early Saturday morning, Trump reiterated promises to fight the case against him in court on Tuesday, while sharing a link asking for money to 'save America'.
His consecutive appearances will come a day after the unsealing of the aforementioned federal indictment, which saw the politician become the first-ever former president to be hit with federal criminal charges.
All 37 counts are felonies, and accuse the former president of willfully defying Justice Department demands to return classified documents.
It further alleges he enlisted aides in efforts to hide the records - and that he even told his lawyers that he wanted to defy a subpoena for the materials stored at his estate.
It claims he stored the documents - 184 of which contained classified information in a ballroom and bathroom at his resort, among other places.
The most serious of the charges - including a prospective violation of the US Espionage Act - carry potential sentences of up to 20 years apiece, though first-time offenders rarely get anywhere near the maximum sentence.
That decision, ultimately, lies with the federal jurist presiding over the proceedings.
'Trump is a fighter, and the kinds of people that attend these conventions love a fighter,' said Jack Kingston, an ex-Georgia congressman who supported Trump in 2016 and 2020, of the his planned speech Saturday. The pair are seen together in 2016 shortly after Trump's win
As for the newly unsealed indictment, all 37 of its counts are felonies, and accuse the former president of willfully defying Justice Department demands to return classified documents
It further alleges he enlisted aides in efforts to hide the records - and that he even told his lawyers that he wanted to defy a subpoena for the materials stored at his estate
In one photo, the cardboard boxes are seen stacked in front of a shower curtain and next to a sink in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom. Some of Trump's aides simply called the files 'his papers'
A photo of documents seized during the August 8 search of Mar-a-Lago was published by the Justice Department
It claims he stored the documents - 184 of which contained classified information in a ballroom and bathroom at his resort, among other places
For all that, Trump can expect a hero's welcome this weekend as he rallies his Republican allies and seeks to cement his status as the leading candidate for the GOP.
That said, in a strange twist of fate, former Vice President Mike Pence is also slated to appear in North Carolina Saturday for his own speech -the first time the former running mates have appeared at the same venue since Pence announced his campaign against his old boss.
For his part, Trump has insisted he committed no wrongdoing, saying, 'There was no crime, except for what the DOJ and FBI have been doing against me for years.'
The indictment
