Former President Donald Trump is having a bit of a week. Fresh off of achieving a historical first by becoming the only former or sitting president to have a mug shot, Trump took to Truth Social to declare that it’s the end of America as we know it. He warned, “America is becoming a Banana Republic. That’s what happens when you Indict and Prosecute your Political Opponent. These are DARK DAYS in the life of America!”
He also turned his attention to Jack Smith, the prosecutor behind several cases against Trump in federal court. Trump wrote, “The Security Tapes from Mar-a-Lago that evil and sinister prosecutor, Deranged Jack Smith, ‘leaked’ or otherwise stated were deleted or altered were, in fact, NOT deleted or altered. It was a Fake Story put out by the government THUGS.”
Trump added, “Those tapes were openly handed over, without protest or litigation, and then the ‘Deranged One’ makes me look as bad as possible. The whole case is FAKE because I come under the Presidential Records Act. Biden or Pence did not!”
Trump’s late-night rant included quotes from supporters, particularly on conservative media. This included referencing the Hoover Institution’s Victor Davis Hanson, who told Newsmax that he believes Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis knows her case against Trump won’t stand up if appealed.
Trump posted, “‘It’s very ironic because if Prosecutor Willis is really concerned about Election denialism and using the levers of government and public influence to have some kind of conspiracy to overturn a genuine ballot, the she would have gone after Stacey Abrams, who’s in her own state.’ Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution.”
He later jumped back to Willis and Hanson and shared, “‘Willis knows the case is weak, only wants to hurt Trump.’ Victor Davis Hanson on The Balance, Eric Bolling.”
When it comes to those surveillance tapes in question from Trump’s property, one of the cases against Trump lays out evidence that the former president had a plan to delete or otherwise get rid of the footage. One section of the filing claims:
“DE OLIVEIRA told Trump Employee 4 that ‘the boss’ wanted the server deleted. Trump Employee 4 responded that he would not know how to do that, and that he did not believe that he would have the rights to do that. Trump Employee 4 told DE OLIVEIRA that DE OLIVEIRA would have to reach out to another employee who was a supervisor of security for TRUMP’s business organization. DE OLIVEIRA then insisted to TRUMP Employee 4 that ‘the boss’ wanted the server deleted and asked, ‘what are we going to do?’”
The filing further claims that “the defendants, DONALD J. TRUMP, WALTINE NAUTA, and CARLOS DE OLIVEIRA did corruptly alter, destroy, mutilate. and conceal a record, document and other object and attempted to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity and availability for use in an official proceeding; that is- TRUMP, NAUTA, and DE OLIVEIRA requested that Trump Employee 4 delete security camera footage at The Mar-a-Lago Club to prevent the footage from being provided to a federal grand jury.”
