Donald Trump is swinging back hard Sunday at Special Counsel Jack Smith and his allegations that the former president deleted security footage at his home in Mar-a-Lago.
As we’ve reported, Smith dropped a 37-count indictment on Trump in June and then just last week added three more charges in a superseding indictment. Smith has now also targeted a third individual (in addition to Trump and his valet Walt Nauta), head of maintenance Carlos De Oliveira.
As my colleague Mike Miller reported, Trump reacted angrily to the new charges, calling Smith “deranged.” While he vented in those social media posts last week, now he’s getting more specific and categorically denying that any tapes were deleted and is adamant that they were, in fact, handed over. From his Truth Social media account:
He wasn’t done, and in his next post, he said that the classified documents case was a hoax, just like the Russia Collusion conspiracy theory. He also said that many of these investigations are set-ups: they accuse you of doing something, and then when you fight back, you’re guilty of obstruction of justice:
He then went on to point out the dual system of justice practiced by the DOJ, noting there’s evidence of bribery and other malfeasance against President Joe Biden — who also illegally held on to classified documents but has never been charged or had his home raided — and yet the DOJ has treated Joe and his son Hunter with kid gloves:
The new charges that have enraged Trump claim that he, De Oliveira, and Nauta conspired to attempt to delete the security footage:
“The superseding indictment adds a new Count charging Trump with one additional count of willful retention of National Defense Information,” the DOJ said. “Carlos de Oliveira, 56, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, has been added to the obstruction conspiracy charged in the original indictment.”
“The superseding indictment also charges Trump, De Oliveira and Nauta with two new obstruction counts based on allegations that the defendants attempted to delete surveillance video footage at The Mar-a-Lago Club in summer 2022,” the DOJ said.”Finally, the superseding indictment also charges De Oliveira with false statements and representations in a voluntary interview with the FBI on Jan. 13, 2023,” the DOJ added. “De Oliveira has been summoned to appear at 10:30 a.m. on July 31, 2023, in Courtroom #5 at the James L. King Federal Courthouse in Miami.”
De Oliveira is expected to appear in court Monday morning in Miami.
Some GOP voters dislike Trump and want Republicans to move on and, instead, turn to someone like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. They don’t like the drama and the Truth Social all-caps rants and the legal issues.
However, the former president’s base is unwavering in its support, and the more these legal problems pile up, the more their resolve seems to stiffen. His poll numbers remain sky-high in the race for the GOP nomination and only seem to get stronger with each DOJ indictment.
The reason is simple: Americans see a two-tiered system of justice at play, with Joe and Hunter receiving obvious DOJ protection and sweetheart deals. There’s an old saying from the classic book “Catch-22“: “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.”
Just because Trump rubs some people the wrong way doesn’t mean that he’s incorrect in his assessment that what we’re seeing here from Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice is unprecedented, dangerous, and un-American.