New Trump charges hammered by former FBI official: 'Thought I was reading a NY Times op-ed'
In the latest indictment against Donald Trump, the former president is facing four federal charges relating to Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the January 6th Capitol riot. On "Fox & Friends First," Wednesday, former Assistant FBI Director Chris Swecker sounded off on the "extraordinary" indictment, arguing it read more like an "op-ed or political manifesto."
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CHRIS SWECKER: This is an extraordinary indictment. When I read it, I thought I was reading a New York Times op-ed or a political manifesto. Where's the beef? There is nothing in there that goes beyond opinion, talking, expressing things. And I'm not defending President Trump because I think he did a lot of things that were ill-advised and unwise, probably against his lawyers' advice. But these charges are conspiracy charges. That means there are other people involved. And I think there are six or seven lawyers that are...unnamed or not named, but they are unnamed coconspirators. And it is alleging basically that Trump provided some sort of disinformation campaign, that he knew that the election was not stolen, that there was not enough fraud to have stolen the election. And yet he went forward with all of these actions and tried to get the election overturned in a lot of different ways. But those charges are extraordinary. I don't think I've ever seen an indictment like this in my 40-plus years in this business. So, it'll be interesting to see. I know he does not have a favorable judge. He has an unfavorable judge. We'll see. I think this case could get thrown out if it really were an objective constitution-adhering judge, you would see this case thrown out very early in the process.
Trump was indicted Tuesday on federal charges relating to Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
In the latest string of charges, Trump was indicted on four federal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
Trump has been ordered to appear in federal court in Washington D.C. for his arraignment on Thursday, Aug. 3, at 4:00 p.m.
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This is also the second federal indictment against the former president relating to Smith's investigation. Trump, who leads the 2024 GOP presidential primary field, has already pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to his alleged improper retention of classified records from his presidency.
Those charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. Trump was charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of that probe last week.
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Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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