The former U.S. president will be formally arrested and charged in Washington D.C. on Thursday.
Former president Donald Trump is set to appear in federal court on Thursday to be formally arrested and charged with conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, obstructing an official proceeding of the U.S. Government, and denying Americans their right to have their votes counted.
The former president is said to be “angry” and “very upset,” despite projecting an air of “extreme calm,” and playing golf on Wednesday. This is his third indictment in four months. He is expected to fly to Washington D.C. Thursday to be arrested. Trump has denied wrongdoing in all the cases.
Trump’s attorney previewed the former president’s defense in connection with the new indictment, which will apparently blame his legal team.
“Everything that Trump did was on the advice of lawyers; that’s an absolute defense,” Trump's attorney says.
Defense attorney Alan Dershowitz tells Inside Edition that Trump will also claim he is protected under his right to free speech.
“His main defense is, ‘Look, I actually believed this, I thought I won the election and that it was stolen, and you can’t prove that I didn’t believe it, because you have no evidence,'” Dershowitz says.
The defense attorney claims many politicians lie to their voters.
“Half the politicians in this country would be in jail if you could be convicted for lying to voters,” Dershowitz says. “That’s not a crime, it’s a sin, that’s good reason for voting against Donald Trump, why I voted against him. I voted against him twice. President should be decided by election, not indictment.”
Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence took to Twitter to share his thoughts on Trump’s indictment.
“Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States,” Pence tweeted.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, says Trump should no longer continue his campaign for reelection.
“Donald Trump should step away from the campaign for the good of the country,” Hutchinson said.
