Former President Trump could be facing his third indictment after he said earlier this month that the Justice Department had notified him that he was a target in their Jan. 6 probe. Some Republicans see the mounting legal problems as only aiding Trump.
As our Alex Bolton reports this morning, some Republican senators are convinced that Trump’s legal controversies will serve to help the former president, not hinder him, as Trump vies for a third GOP presidential nomination.
So far, Trump has been indicted in a probe overseen by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over an alleged hush money scheme, in addition to a separate Justice Department probe looking into his handling of classified documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago.
The former president is now facing a possible second federal indictment in an investigation being conducted by the Justice Department revolving around the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Trump could also face charges around a separate probe overseen by Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis around efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
“The things that one would have thought were disqualifying can be enhancing, can be improving your standing,” one GOP senator, who also requested anonymity to speak candidly, told Alex.
Trump has used his compounding legal controversies as a fundraising opportunity. At the same time, polls have shown the difficulty other 2024 contenders have experienced in trying to close the gap between Trump and the rest of the field.
The indictments also come at a particularly bad time for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose campaign has gone through several rounds of staff layoffs and whom Republican strategists have said have made some early missteps in his campaign.