Former President Donald Trump stated on Thursday that the country will confront "issues... the likes of which perhaps we've never seen" if he is charged for his handling of sensitive materials after leaving office, implying that such a move by the Justice Department might incite violence from Trump's followers.
The former president claimed an indictment would not prevent him from running for president again and that Americans just wouldn't stand for his prosecution.
Trump: US Will Have "Big Problems"
"If anything like that happened, I would have no reason not to run," Donald Trump remarked in an interview with conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt. The presenter inquired as to what Trump meant by issues.
"I believe they'd have major issues. There are significant issues. I just don't believe they'd put up with that. "They will not stand by and watch this final fraud," Donald Trump stated.
It's not the first time Republicans have suggested widespread chaos if the DOJ charges Trump. Last month, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham made headlines when he warned there would be riots in the streets if Donald Trump is prosecuted for mishandling confidential material.
Graham's statements were criticized as irresponsible and shameful, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed the comments from radical Republicans were dangerous.
Hewitt seemed to interpret Donald Trump's remarks as a signal of impending trouble, asking the former president how he would respond if the legacy media accused him of instigating violence, according to Politico.
Meanwhile, in a court filing Monday, Donald Trump argued against allowing the Justice Department to study papers taken from Mar-a-Lago before a special master independently evaluates the materials, calling the inquiry unusual and unwise.
Trump's attorneys opposed the government's two choices for special master in a separate filing Monday, without saying why. Trump's attorneys contended that Cannon could hear their accusations in private.
The government is requesting that the court appoint either Barbara Jones, a former federal judge in Manhattan who served as a special master in the investigations of Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen or Thomas Griffith, a retired federal appeals court judge for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Raymond Dearie, a former senior federal judge in Brooklyn who previously served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and Paul Huck Jr., a former deputy attorney general in Florida, were nominated by Trump's attorneys.
Trump Refuses to Tell if He Knows Docs Are Feds Property
In a filing on Monday, the Justice Department stated its support for the nomination of any of its candidates or Dearie. According to government attorneys, each nominee has the extensive judicial experience, having ruled over federal criminal and civil cases, including those involving national security and privilege considerations.
However, the government opposed Huck because of a lack of comparable expertise. Cannon has not established a timetable for naming the special master she approved last week.
The Justice Department notified her that it will appeal the ruling. Meanwhile, the department requested Cannon to ease the ban on investigators reading the materials because individuals who probe criminal cases are also involved in the intelligence review.
In their brief Monday, Trump's attorneys said Cannon's decision to appoint a special master may bring order from chaos in the probe, which they said intended to criminalize Trump's holding off his presidency documents, USA Today reported.
Trump asserted on Thursday that he had declassified every official material he brought to Mar-a-Lago while refusing to explain whether he was aware the records were federal government property.
In their defense of the former president, Trump's lawyers have often used the Presidential Records Act. The government shall reserve and keep total ownership, custody, and control over presidential documents,' according to the legislation.
Trump's staff claims that the legislation empowers him to declare any government document, even sensitive documents, as his personal property. The assertion that a section of the legislation that states that the presidential records of a former president must be available to the such former president or the former president's chosen agent provides him fundamental ownership of the papers.
The legal team has not expressly said that he designated the records as his personal property, merely that he may have done so to persuade the government to drop a criminal action, as per Daily Mail.
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