The U.S. experienced a historic development on June 8: Former President Donald Trump was indicted for his handling of classified documents after he left the White House.
Trump, 76, is currently campaigning to win the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election. He is the frontrunner according to all polls, positioned more than 30 points ahead of his main rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. The real estate magnate's legal setbacks pose a threat to his presidential bid.
The former president faces seven counts, including unauthorized withholding of classified records. The charges against the former president also include willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements and conspiracy to obstruct justice, according to The New York Times.
If Trump is convicted, he could face a prison sentence. He is expected to surrender to authorities on June 13.
This is the first time a former U.S. president has faced federal charges. And it's the second indictment naming Trump. He was charged in New York with falsifying business records.
'Far Higher Interest in Pursuing Trump': Musk
The real estate tycoon confirmed on TruthSocial, his social network, that he'd been indicted. He sees these charges as a political witch hunt against him.
"The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been indicted," Trump wrote after 7 p.m. U.S. Eastern on Truth Socia. He added that he would be arraigned in federal court in Miami at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
"I'm an innocent man. I'm an innocent person," he added in a video later on.
Trump now has received unexpected support from Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO who has become a hero of the right wing since he removed all content guardrails from the Twitter microblogging platform.
Musk does not go so far as to say that Trump is innocent, he does say that the judicial authorities are determined to prosecute him and the charges are special treatment reserved for the former president. The entrepreneur is skeptical about whether the legal system goes after other politicians with similar intensity.
"There does seem to be far higher interest in pursuing Trump compared to other people in politics," the billionaire said on Twitter after the new indictment of the was reported.
The Tesla (TSLA) CEO and SpaceX founder said judicial authorities must show the same determination to prosecute other politicians if they are to remain credible and preserve public trust.
"Very important that the justice system rebut what appears to be differential enforcement or they will lose public trust," Musk said.
Importantly, the billionaire, who called for a Republican vote in last November's midterm elections, has repeatedly called on Trump to retire from politics. He says the former president, like President Biden, must give way to a new generation of younger politicians. The current president will be 82 and Trump will be past 78 at the time of the election in 2024.
"Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America," Musk said last July. "If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win – he doesn’t even need to campaign."
Trump Faces Mountain of Legal Troubles
Musk has indicated that his preferred candidate for president is DeSantis, whom he introduced to his nearly 143 million followers on May 24 during a Twitter Spaces audio event. DeSantis announced his presidential bid during this interview, which was disrupted by technical bugs.
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Veterans of the Grand Old Party came to the defense of the former president.
"Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) tweeted.
"It is unconscionable for a President to indict the leading candidate opposing him. Joe Biden kept classified documents for decades. I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice. House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable."
Trump faces a mountain of legal troubles.
He became the first former president to be charged with a felony in April, after pleading not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush-money payment to a porn star.
The former reality TV star will be tried in this case in New York next year.
Trump could also be charged this summer in Georgia for allegedly pressuring election officials to help him to victory in the 2020 presidential election, even though Biden won that state.
And last month in a civil case, a Manhattan jury found that he'd sexually abused the journalist E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s and defamed her by saying that she had lied about the incident. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
