PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JUNE 30: Republican presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Moms for Liberty Joyful Warriors national summit at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown on June 30, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The self-labeled "parental rights" summit is bringing school board hopefuls from across the country where attendees will receive training and hear from Republican presidential candidates which include former U.S. President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. The summit, which is being held in an overwhelmingly Democratic Philadelphia, has drawn protestors since the event was announced due to their pushing of book bans accusing schools of ideological overreach, including teaching about race, gender, and sexuality. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump warned that violence would ensue if any of the criminal charges resulted in his conviction.
Without presenting any evidence, Trump declared that he was being prosecuted due to polls showing that he was ahead of President Joe Biden. He warned that if these charges end up harming his candidacy, then the country could descend into chaos.
“I think they feel this is the way they’re going to try and win, and that’s not the way it goes,” the former president stated after a court hearing in Washington, D.C.
“It’ll be bedlam in the country. It’s a very bad thing. It’s a very bad precedent. As we said, it’s the opening of a Pandora’s box,” he added.
On January 5, Biden condemned Trump for refusing to reject violence.
“Trump won’t do what an American president must do; he refuses to denounce political violence,” the president said. “So hear me clearly, I will say what Donald Trump won’t: Political violence is never acceptable in the United States – never, never, never. It has no place in the democracy. None.”
Prosecutors have charged Trump with 91 criminal offenses surrounding federal election subversion, illegal campaign payments and retention of classified documents.
He has been charged with 13 counts in Georgia for state election subversion, 40 federal charges for retaining classified information and 34 for giving hush money to Stormy Daniels, an adult film star who said they had an affair.
The former president is also facing civil trials over his business affairs and a defamation case brought by a writer whom a jury found he had assaulted.
Additionally, Trump is facing attempts by voters in many states to block him from the 2024 presidential ballot under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was introduced after the Civil War to stop insurrectionists from running for office.
Trump has appealed his removal in Maine in that state. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on his removal from the Colorado ballot.
On January 9, Trump attended an appeals court hearing for his federal election subversion case, where his lawyers argued that he enjoys absolute immunity for anything he did during his time as president.
After the court hearing, Trump claimed that he did nothing wrong at all.
“You just used the word ‘bedlam,'” a reporter pointed out.
“Will you tell your supporters now, ‘No matter what, no violence,'” the reporter asked.
Trump walked away as he was asked this question.
The trial in the federal election subversion case is set to begin on March 4, 2024, which is during the midway point of the GOP primary.
On the same day Trump gave his warning, John Sauer, Trump’s lead lawyer in his federal election fraud case, declared that presidential immunity would allow a U.S. president to assassinate a political rival without facing criminal prosecution.
Sauer said that if a president were originally impeached and convicted by Congress, then a case could be brought.
The lawyer for Special Counsel Jack Smith called Trump’s argument “frightening.”
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