Candidate Trump’s claims complicate legal strategy for defendant Trump

[BidenPresident]

“I can do whatever I want,” former president Donald Trump, who is facing four criminal trials, declared at a rally

Yet at a Wednesday night rally in Florida, Trump boasted anew about information that he suggested might be classified, and he repeated past claims that he was justified in keeping sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago home and private club.

“I don’t think this has ever been told,” he said to the rally hosted by Club 47, a group trying to get him reelected. “They’ll say, ‘Oh, it’s classified information.’ Maybe it is, but I don’t think so.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...4/trump-statements-trials-evidence-gag-order/

 

[BidenPresident]

The former president then proceeded to tell a story about a U.S. operation in 2020 that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force. Trump claimed that Israel was an important partner in the effort but backed out at the last minute. “We had everything all set to go, and the night before it happened, I got a call that Israel would not be participating in this attack,” Trump said. “Nobody’s heard this story before, but I’d like to tell it to Club 47 because you’ve been so loyal and so beautiful.”

 

[BidenPresident]

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet The Press” last month, Trump kneecapped a key defense strategy his lawyers have raised in that case — that he was fighting the election results based on advice from attorneys.

Trump said in the interview that he decided for himself the election was stolen from him. “It was my decision,” the former president said, though he acknowledged he also listened to lawyers. “You know who I listen to? Myself. I saw what happened.”