Donald Trump has never left the US political scene since he left the presidency, just over a year and a half ago, but he has seldom been as suffocated as this week, after an unprecedented search of his home, which could turn into a case. criminal offense, in addition to a statement to authorities in New York in which he invoked the right to remain silent 440 times.
The attack on the former president, publicly admitted by the Justice Department of the Joe Biden administration, greatly increased tensions in the country, with radicalized militants on the streets – it was the probable cause of an attack on an FBI building in Ohio – and exchanges of accusations between Democrats and Republicans. It also raised questions about Trump’s place in the current US political chessboard.
The former president has tried to use all this to his advantage. Not only politically, by saying and repeating that he is the target of persecution, but also financially.
The Save America (“Save America”), Trump’s political committee, fired on Tuesday morning (9) an email asking for money from supporters. “Run to donate IMMEDIATELY to publicly show that you are on my side against THIS ENDLESS WITCH HUNT.”
On Telegram, Trump claimed that former President Obama “kept 33 million pages of documents, many of them secret” and said that the accusation that he kept documents about nuclear weapons “is a hoax”, like the accusations that he was helped by the Russians in the election or the impeachment proceedings he suffered.
It was Trump who revealed late Monday afternoon that his home in Florida had been the target of a search operation by the FBI, the country’s federal policy. Without any public information, the American press discovered that agents were looking for documents allegedly improperly taken from the White House during the period in which he held the presidency, and there is already talk of secret information about nuclear research.
There were tense days of silence from the government, which at first said only that the White House had not been informed of the search. On Thursday (11), after a series of accusations of political persecution, US Attorney General Merrick Garland, secretary of the Department of Justice, to which the FBI reports, went on TV to say that he personally approved the operation and defended the corporation from the attacks of republicans.
“I will not be silent when their integrity [dos agentes] is unfairly attacked,” he said. “The men and women of the FBI and the Department of Justice are public servants and devoted patriots.”
It’s not the first time the Justice Department has investigated officials on suspicion of improperly handling sensitive material — the most striking recent case was that of Democrat Hillary Clinton, who used a personal email to handle classified or top secret information when held the post of Secretary of State.
According to the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, in Monday’s operation, FBI agents removed 20 boxes from Trump’s house, with 11 sets of classified documents, as well as photos and notes. The Justice Department said it had asked for the seized inventory to be removed from the secrecy, to show that there was no political persecution.
Two days after the operation, on Wednesday (10), Trump had another headache when he had to testify to the New York Attorney General, in a case that investigates alleged irregular tax maneuvers by his companies. At the time, the only question he answered was what his name was, before reading a statement accusing the investigation of being politically motivated and saying hundreds of times for more than four hours that he would not answer questions.
The former president has solid support among about 30% of GOP members, says Daniel Disalvo, a professor of political science at the City University of New York. This group “stays with Trump even if he shoots someone on Fifth Avenue,” he says.
For this part, the attacks against the former president corroborate a narrative that he is politically persecuted. Another part of the party has hated Trump since before his first term and sees him as a representation of the decline and a denial of Republican values.
“The only real change I see on the political board is for the group that voted for him in the last elections, but that may be more reticent about him appearing on the police news,” says Disalvo, stating that this can eventually get in the way of candidates supported by the former president. in the midterms, but that doesn’t see a big difference in the next presidential election, which will only take place in 2024.
“A lot of things can happen in two years. Trump’s youthful years are long gone, his health is not the best, he may well not run in 2024.”
Resistance from more traditional sectors against the former president was expressed a week ago by Dick Cheney, the country’s powerful vice president during the George W. Bush administration. In a TV ad in favor of the reelection of his daughter, Liz Cheney, as a representative from Wyoming, the Republican called Trump a coward and said that the former president is a threat to the United States.
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to stay in power after voters rejected him. a coward. A real man would not lie to his supporters. He lost the election and he lost badly. I know that, he knows that, and deep down, I believe most Republicans know that,” he said.
One reason for Cheney’s anger is that Liz, also a Republican, became the target of radical party protesters after she took over as vice president of the House investigating committee on the Capitol Hill attack on January 6, 2021.
She is running for the party’s nomination in the primaries for the midterm election, which will take place in November, and was one of 10 Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump after the attack on Capitol Hill. Other lawmakers who did not support the president have also been punished in local primaries, which indicates the strength that Trump still represents within the party.
The operation against Trump has raised fears even among Republicans that the Trumpist base will become even more radical, after supporters took to the streets in defense of the former president. According to the Politico portal, even some republican deputies have already expressed this fear. “The base has lost its mind. If Trump decides to call them to arms, I think we can have another January 6th,” one told the website.
On Thursday (11), a gunman tried to break into an FBI building in Cincinnati (Ohio), exchanged fire with agents and was chased until he was killed. The gunman was a prolific Trump supporter on social media, and the corporation is investigating whether he has links to extremist groups in the country.
