The Department of Justice will add dozens more charges to the existing ones against former President Donald Trump regarding his handling of classified documents if the federal judge overseeing the case is a Trump appointee.
According to The Independent, Biden’s DOJ is preparing a “superseding indictment” of 30-45 new charges if the case remains in the hands of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida, who was randomly selected to try the case.
The new charges could potentially be brought in another jurisdiction and include charges against Trump associates. The outlet reported that DOJ officials are fearful that Cannon will give deference to the president who appointed her.
Trump is currently facing a federal indictment comprising 37 counts filed by special counsel Jack Smith. Notably, 31 of these charges pertain to the alleged willful retention of military documents, with the prosecution invoking the Espionage Act of 1917.
Trump’s defense rests on his assertion that the possession of these documents was lawful under the civil statute of the Presidential Records Act. He points to a past precedent, the “Clinton socks case,” which was decided approximately ten years ago by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who President Barack Obama appointed.
Trump and his defenders have argued that precedent supports his claim that he was allowed to possess the documents in question, Newsmax reported.
During his administration, Jackson frequently ruled against Trump’s White House and his associates.
Newsmax added:
But, the DOJ is concerned the Trump-appointed judge in Florida will have to be circumvented by a superseding indictment bringing additional charges, sources told The Independent.
The special counsel’s team is apparently also considering bringing charges against attorneys for Trump, including those defending him during the 2020 presidential election challenge, like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani, was the Trump-directed attorney who unearthed Ukraine/Burisma corruption allegations against Joe Biden when Trump was still in the White House.
Amid accusations of the Biden DOJ slow-walked probes into the Bidens themselves, there are growing indications that the department will now proceed with charges against the individual who initially initiated investigations into the Biden family’s links to Ukraine. Giuliani, having recently volunteered, underwent an interview with investigators under the supervision of Smith.
“The appearance was entirely voluntary and conducted in a professional manner,” Giuliani legal spokesman Ted Goodman said in a statement.
That said, Smith “most definitely” bring some charges against Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and mayor of New York City, sources told The Independent.
Additional individuals within the Trump circle who have been called before the special counsel include Mark Meadows, a former congressman and Trump’s one-time White House chief of staff. Meadows attempted to safeguard his testimony by invoking executive privilege, but his request was ultimately rejected.
Until recently, Trump had vowed that he would not prosecute Biden or other political rivals, but he appears to have changed his mind.
“You know, I’ve been hitting him much differently than I have because I’ve always respected the office, and then when they indicted me for nothing, I said, ‘Now the gloves are off,’” Trump told a Pickens, South Carolina, rally Saturday. “Now we have to say it like it is. He’s a crook. Under crooked Joe Biden. I never called him that. I took the name away from Hillary Clinton. We call her beautiful Hillary now.
“Now it’s crooked Joe, because it’s a much more appropriate name right now for this man who’s just destroying our country,” he added.
Recent polling shows Trump taking a lead over Biden. In addition, he is solidly in the lead for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, though the field is large and growing.