Trump Appeals to GOP for Support Amid Legal Challenges, Urges Focus on Biden Investigations

As his legal troubles escalate, Donald Trump is intensifying his pleas to fellow Republicans to exit the 2024 presidential race. He warns that he will confront GOP congressional members who neglect to prioritize inquiries into Democratic President Joe Biden.

Trump also called for a cessation of military assistance to Ukraine until the White House collaborates with congressional probes into Biden and his family.

“Every dollar Republicans use to attack me equates to a dollar handed directly to the Biden campaign,” Trump declared at a Saturday night rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The previous president and leading GOP candidate asserted it was time for individuals like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom he scorned as “clowns,” to step aside. He accused them of squandering hundreds of millions of dollars that should be invested in a robust vote-gathering mechanism to oppose Biden in November.

These statements followed the recent unveiling of new criminal charges against Trump by federal prosecutors. They form part of the case accusing him of unlawfully accumulating classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and refusing to surrender them to investigators. The superseding indictment unsealed on Thursday alleges Trump and two employees attempted to erase surveillance at the resort in a bid to obstruct the Justice Department’s probe.

This is just one among many legal obstacles faced by Trump. His team is currently preparing for possible forthcoming indictments, expected as early as next week, in relation to his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results. These charges are brought forth by prosecutors in Washington and Georgia. Trump is already facing criminal charges in New York over payments made to silence women who claimed sexual encounters during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Despite these legal issues, Trump remains a commanding early candidate for the Republican nomination, increasing his lead as charges accumulate and as his competitors falter in their responses. Their struggle was evident at a GOP event in Iowa on Friday night, where they largely refrained from directly confronting Trump. The only individual who dared to — accusing Trump of “campaigning to avoid prison” — was greeted with boos as he exited the stage.

Nonetheless, Trump has capitalized on his legal tribulations, making them the central theme of his attempt to regain the presidency, accusing Biden of using the Justice Department to undermine his main political competitor. The White House has consistently denied the president’s involvement in these cases.

At his rallies, Trump has portrayed the charges, which carry substantial risks of imprisonment, as assaults not just on him, but also his supporters.

“These charges are not against me, they’re against you. I just happen to be in the line of fire,” he proclaimed in Erie, adding, “Every indictment from the radical left Democrats, Marxists, communists, and fascists is a badge of honor for me…. Because I’m being indicted on your behalf.”

However, these investigations are also consuming significant resources, distracting from the fundamental aspects of the campaign. As first reported by The Washington Post on Saturday, Trump’s political action committee, Save America, will reveal on Monday that it spent over $40 million in legal fees during the first half of 2023 defending Trump and his current and former aides. This sum exceeds the funds raised in the second quarter of the year.

“To counter these dreadful actions by Joe Biden’s allies and to safeguard these individuals from financial devastation, the leadership PAC contributed to their legal costs to provide them with representation against unjust harassment,” Trump’s spokesperson Steven Cheung commented.

At the rally, in a formerly Democratic region that Trump captured in 2016 but was narrowly won by Biden in 2020, Trump also warned Republicans in Congress who resist participating in efforts to impeach Biden. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., mentioned this past week that Republican legislators might consider an impeachment inquiry into the president over unproven financial misconduct allegations.

Trump, who was impeached twice during his tenure, said on Saturday, “The greatest grievance I receive is that the Republicans discover this information and then take no action.”

“Any Republican that doesn’t respond to Democrat fraud should be immediately primaried and ousted!” he announced to the crowd, met with vigorous applause. “They need to play hard… and if they’re not prepared to do so, there are plenty of strong, tough Republicans ready… and they’ll receive my endorsement every single time.”

During the 2022 midterm elections, Trump made it his mission to retaliate against those who had voted for his second impeachment, effectively unseating most by supporting primary challengers.

At the rally, Trump also urged Republican congressional members to cease the approval of further military aid to Ukraine, currently embroiled in a conflict with Russia, until the Biden administration collaborates with Republican investigations into the Biden family’s business dealings. This echoes the call leading to his first impeachment.

“He’s dragging us into a global conflict for the same country, Ukraine, that reportedly paid his family millions of dollars,” Trump claimed. “Given this information,” he stated, “Congress should deny any further payment from our depleted arsenals… the weapons caches to Ukraine until the FBI, DOJ, and IRS surrender every piece of evidence they have on the corrupt business dealings of the Biden crime family.”

House Republicans have been investigating the Biden family’s finances, especially the payments received by Hunter, the president’s son, from Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company involved in Trump’s first impeachment.

An anonymous FBI informant alleged that Burisma officials in 2015 and 2016 tried to pay the Bidens $5 million each for their help in removing a Ukrainian prosecutor supposedly investigating the company. However, a Justice Department review in 2020, during Trump’s presidency, was concluded eight months later due to insufficient evidence of misconduct.

Trump’s first impeachment by the House resulted in charges that he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to uncover dirt on the Bidens while threatening to withhold military aid. Trump was subsequently acquitted by the Senate.

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More about Legal Peril

• Donald Trump Urges GOP Rivals to Drop Out
• Federal Prosecutors Unveil New Criminal Charges Against Trump
• Trump’s Legal Challenges and Possible Additional Indictments
• Trump’s Legal Woes as a Core Message of His Campaign
• Trump’s Political Action Committee Spending on Legal Fees
• Threats to GOP Members of Congress Who Refuse to Investigate Biden
• Trump’s Stance on Military Aid to Ukraine and Its Link to His First Impeachment
• House Republicans’ Investigations into the Bidens
• Trump’s Retaliation Against Those Who Voted for His Second Impeachment
• Trump’s Presidential Bid Status Within the Republican Party