Columbus: For the first time since his indictment on a number of federal charges propelled the 2024 presidential election contest into uncharted and potentially extremely unstable territory, Donald Trump spoke to his supporters on Saturday.
The 37 counts of the indictment, which were made public on Friday and were centred on his alleged handling of classified materials, put the former president in line for a much harsher legal outcome than the accusations of personal, political, and business misconduct he has previously largely escaped.
The prosecution of the undisputed front-runner for the Republican nomination by President Joe Biden's Department of Justice also creates the conditions for a presidential race unlike any other that has come before.
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Speaking at two state Republican conventions in Georgia and then North Carolina, Trump, who has already denounced what he insists is a politically motivated witch hunt, is expected to use both platforms to criticise the FBI and claim that federal prosecutors are unfairly targeting him.
The two occasions occur only a few days before Trump is scheduled to appear in federal court in Miami to answer the explosive allegations that he put US national security "at risk" by willfully holding onto classified defence information, collaborating to obstruct justice, dishonestly hiding documents, and making false statements.
Each of the accusations, made by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith, carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Trump called Smith "deranged" and a "Trump hater" in a series of posts on his Truth Social platform and in a video statement in which he addressed the indictment. He also accused Biden and his campaign of orchestrating the prosecution as election meddling.
They target me because we are currently far ahead of Biden in the polls, he claimed.
Many Republicans, including some of Trump's rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, have so far responded by uniting behind the former leader and amplifying his outrage.
The indictment, according to Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, marked a "dark day" for the United States. McCarthy and Trump have had a rocky relationship.
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McCarthy declared, "I stand with President Trump, as do all Americans who believe in the rule of law.
The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, echoed the allegations of a "weaponized" Justice Department and is thought to be the most competitive Republican opponent for President Trump.
