The Biden Justice Department is reportedly preparing a superseding indictment of 30-45 more charges against former President Donald Trump, fearing a Trump-appointed judge might rule unfavorably against it.
The scope of the charges could potentially bring the presidential documents case to another jurisdiction and include charges against Trump-tied associates, sources told The Independent.
According to the report, the DOJ fears Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon – randomly selected for the case – might give deference to the former president.
Trump is already facing a 37-count federal indictment delivered by special counsel Jack Smith. Among the charges are 31 counts of willful retainment of military documents under the Espionage Act of 1917. Trump argues he was permitted to possess those documents under the civil statute of the Presidential Records Act, as determined by the precedent of the former President Bill "Clinton socks case" which was ruled around a decade ago by Judge Amy Berman Jackson, appointed by President Barack Obama.
Jackson is the same judge who has frequently served unfavorable rulings against Trump-tied officials.
But, the DOJ is concerned the Trump-appointed judge in Florida will have to be circumvented by a superseding indictment bringing additional charges, sources told The Independent.
The special counsel's team is apparently also considering bringing charges against attorneys for Trump, including those defending him during the 2020 presidential election challenge, like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani, was the Trump-directed attorney who unearthed Ukraine/Burisma corruption allegations against Joe Biden when Trump was still in the White House.
The Biden DOJ, facing allegations it has throttled back investigations into the Bidens, now might move forward with charges against the one who began looking into the Biden family's connection to Ukraine.
Giuliani submitted for a voluntary interview recently by investigators as overseen by Smith, it was revealed this week.
Smith's special counsel will "most definitely" bring some charges against Giuliani, sources told The Independent.
"The appearance was entirely voluntary and conducted in a professional manner," Giuliani legal spokesman Ted Goodman said in a statement.
Others in the Trump orbit who have been brought before the special counsel include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who sought to have his testimony protected by executive privilege but was denied.
Still, the past and present presidential regimes remain in a standoff, with both vowing to go after their political rivals.
Trump had, until recently, vowed not to prosecute his political opponent.
"You know, I've been hitting him much differently than I have because I've always respected the office, and then when they indicted me for nothing, I said, 'Now the gloves are off,'" Trump told a Pickens, South Carolina, rally Saturday, which aired live on Newsmax. "Now we have to say it like it is. He's a crook. Under crooked Joe Biden. I never called him that. I took the name away from Hillary Clinton. We call her beautiful Hillary now.
"Now it's crooked Joe, because it's a much more appropriate name right now for this man who's just destroying our country."
via newsmax