United States history was once again made this week after DOJ-appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith and his team formally indicted scandal-plagued ex-President Donald Trump on multiple charges related to the infamous stolen document scandal. This brutal indictment serves as the former presidentโs 2nd official indictment in a number of weeks, and his first formal indictment on federal charges stemming from the US Department of Justice.
Smith, on behalf of the Biden DOJ, has been investigating the former president for his role in inciting the January 6th Capitol insurrection, his attempt to overthrow the 2020 presidential election after his loss to Joe Biden, and the infamous stolen Mar-a-Lago document scandal, in which Donald Trump stole classified government documents at the end of his presidency, relocated the material to his Palm Beach compound, where he hid them, lied about his possession of the materials, and repeatedly refused to comply with government requests and subpoenas for their return.
In the aftermath of the news, Special Counsel Smithโs 37-count indictment of Donald Trump has finally been unsealed, and the exposure of the former president was apparently worse than even his closest insiders were prepared for.
The Washington Post broke reporting from inside Trump World, confirming that many of Donaldโs closest insiders and allies are already expressing their shock, dismay, and disappointment over this massive federal scandal, with one particular insider saying it all could have been avoided if Donald Trump had, for once in his life, just followed the rules and complied with the US federal government.
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But, instead, Donald made a molehill into a mountain, as he always does, ultimately resulting in a decrease of confidence across his own inner circle as the damning evidence against him has gone public.
The Post reports, โThe indictment unsealed Friday rattled some of his advisers, who were not aware of the granular evidence obtained by the Justice Department, according to people familiar with the matter,โ before adding, โTwo people said the evidence was more damning than they expected, and could have been avoided if Trump would have just listened to his lawyers and advisers.โ
The publication pointed to the sudden resignation of two of Trumpโs key attorneys in the case that took place within 24 hours of the indictment becoming official, noting that the former president is now left scrambling for a full legal team to represent him in the rapidly approaching hearing, with the Post noting the recovery process is being โdriven by unforced errors and stubbornness.โ
One advisor to scandal-ridden former President Trump said, โThe story of this will be we didnโt have to get to this place. None of this really had to happen. It was all so, so dumb.โ
Republican pollster Whit Ayres pointed out that while Manhattan DA Alvin Braggโs hush money indictment certainly made history, Trump has far more to worry about when it comes to the trouble coming out of the DOJ.
โIf you were trying to design a lawsuit that was easy for Republicans to dismiss as a partisan witch hunt, you would produce exactly the lawsuit that Alvin Bragg brought. Jack Smith is not a jokester,โ Ayres said.
Read the full report from The Washington Post here.