Former President Donald Trump's 2024 reelection campaign has turned into a race for self-preservation following the unsealing of his federal indictment on Friday.
Legal experts told Axios a criminal trial in federal court is unlikely to wrap up before November 2024, putting whoever wins the presidency in the position of influencing Trump's case — including Trump himself. But special counsel Jack Smith on Friday said his office "will seek a speedy trial."
Should Trump become the GOP nominee next year, he would be campaigning to secure his freedom — a situation otherwise unheard of in the history of the United States. If Trump wins the presidency, he could appoint sympathetic officials in the Justice Department or even pardon himself.
"Trump could run on pardoning himself," attorney Jonathan Turley told Fox News late Thursday night. "They may have given him a rather unique campaign slogan."
Speaking Saturday at the Georgia Republican Convention, Trump said, "They've launched one witch hunt after another to try and stop our movement, to thwart the will of the American people." Later, he added, "In the end, they're not coming after me. They're coming after you."
Turley said in another Fox News segment, "It is an extremely damning indictment ... This is not an indictment you can dismiss."
The 44-page indictment lays out 37 felony counts, 31 of which are for the willful retention of national defense information, a violation under the Espionage Act. Were Trump to receive the maximum sentence for each count and ordered to serve them consecutively, he would face 400 years in prison, according to the New York Post. Congress passed the Espionage Act in 1917, shortly after the U.S. entered World War I. Its original intent was to prevent the support of United States adversaries during wartime.
Prior to the unsealing of the indictment, several GOP presidential contenders expressed their support for Trump. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy chose to stand with their opponent rather than against him. Ramaswamy promised he would pardon Trump if elected. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has remained more cryptic, saying, "We would be aggressive [in] issuing pardons." DeSantis also pledged that he would "bring accountability to the DOJ."
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has remained tight-lipped about the whole affair. Sources close to the matter told Axios that the Democratic National Committee had warned its members to remain silent until the legal process plays out.
On Thursday, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee, told Newsmax that the timing of Trump's indictment was no surprise.
"Well," Comer said, "I don't think it's any coincidence that the day that the House Oversight Committee has access to an FBI form that suggests Joe Biden was involved in a bribery scheme that the DOJ comes back and indicts Donald Trump."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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