Biden Declines To Comment On Trump Indictment

Topline

President Joe Biden declined to comment on Thursday’s indictment of former President Donald Trump as he exited the White House on Friday, sticking to the administration’s strategy of keeping a distance from the probe, as other prominent Democrats urged Trump to cooperate with the criminal justice process.

President Joe Biden walks to talk with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, … [+] Friday, March 31, 2023 before boarding Marine One. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Key Facts

Biden said he had no response to the indictment and instead pivoted to the detainment of a Wall Street Journal reporter in Russia, telling reporters: “Let him go.”

In the weeks leading up to the historic indictment, White House officials repeatedly declined to comment on the Manhattan District Attorney’s case, citing the ongoing investigation.

Many prominent Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) were relatively reserved in their reaction to the indictment, encouraging peace from Trump’s supporters and his own cooperation with the criminal justice process.

Prior to the indictment, Democrats have largely avoided commenting on the case itself, but have jumped to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s defense amid attacks from Republicans who have cast the investigation as a political “witch hunt.”

Crucial Quote

“We do not comment on any ongoing investigations from here. We’ve been very consistent on that,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked about the probe on March 20, days after Trump claimed he would soon be arrested and urged his supporters to protest. “The President has been very clear when it comes to Americans who want to protest: They should do it peacefully.”

Contra

Republicans, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (Fla.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), rallied around the former president and attacked the investigation against him, casting it as a politically motivated stunt executed by a left-leaning prosecutor to sway the 2024 presidential election. McCarthy vowed that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg would face consequences. DeSantis, who is widely expected to challenge Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination, did not mention Trump by name, but said that he would not aid in an extradition request if Trump refuses to travel from Florida to New York to be arrested voluntarily. Graham, meanwhile, predicted that the indictment would end in Trump being found innocent and bolster his chances of winning the 2024 presidential election.

Key Background

A Manhattan grand jury voted Thursday to indict former President Donald Trump in connection to hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, a source familiar with the case told Forbes—marking the first-ever indictment of a former U.S. president. While the indictment is under seal and the charges have yet to be made public, Trump is facing more than 30 counts related to business fraud, CNN reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the case. The investigation is widely believed to center around a $130,000 payment Trump’s former lawyer and personal attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in exchange for her silence about their alleged 2006 affair (which Trump has denied). Prosecutors were expected to be pursuing charges of falsifying business records against Trump, after federal investigators determined in their 2018 case against Cohen that he was reimbursed for the payments by the Trump Organization under a contract that falsely specified the services were for legal fees. The charge could be elevated to a felony if Manhattan prosecutors can tie it to a second crime, potentially one related to campaign finance violations, since the payment was made to influence the results of the 2016 presidential election, federal prosecutors previously alleged.

What To Watch For

Trump, who was in Mar-A-Lago when the indictment was announced, is expected to voluntarily surrender ahead of his anticipated arraigned in Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday, his lawyer, Susan Necheles told the New York Times. He will likely be fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken before being released under New York bail laws that require most non-violent misdemeanor defendants to be freed on their own recognizance.