Following the advice of his infamous mentor Roy Cohn, instead of being chastened and cowed by the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison, Donald Trump has instead chosen to go on the attack by proclaiming his innocence through lies and fantastical statements. The former president insists he did nothing wrong stowing away top secret and other highly classified information at his Mar-a-Lago resort, in alleged violation of the Espionage Act. Trump is also making delusional conspiratorial claims that he is being "persecuted" for "defending" "real America" against Joe Biden and the Democrats and "the left" and the "woke agenda" and "the socialists."
Since his arrest and indictment in Miami, Trump claims to have received many millions of dollars in donations from the MAGA faithful. Predictably, he and his agents are now escalating their threats of widespread violence and civil unrest — including making threats against special counsel Jack Smith — if he is held accountable for his many crimes against democracy and the rule of law. The Republican Party and the right-wing "news" media have rallied to the disgraced former president's defense.
