Even a third indictment doesn't seem like it will knock the former president off his perch as the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.
It was just another Tuesday for former President Donald Trump.
He golfed at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, chatted with staff and club members there and was relatively nonchalant as he awaited something that is becoming a part of his new reality: being indicted.
Special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday unsealed an indictment against Trump alleging he tried to undermine democracy by overturning the 2020 election and disenfranchising lawful votes. It is the third indictment Trump is facing and comes after months of investigation that included grand jury testimony from a range of witnesses, including former Vice President Mike Pence.
The scope of this indictment is more sweeping than the others — and, for many of Trump's critics, more disqualifying. Yet in the short term, it may not have much political impact. Trump remains the overwhelming GOP front-runner for the 2024 presidential nomination. He and his inner circle remained calm as an expected announcement approached, in large part because they knew it was coming, according to five Trump advisers and allies NBC interviewed.
“Obviously we were expecting it, so it was not a shock, and it enabled the president to be prepared for it,” one Trump adviser said. “The indictment itself had been widely panned, and so there is also that. You can’t just criminalize the First Amendment. Most folks do not think that will hold up.”
The person was among the handful of people Trump consulted directly with on the phone, both shortly before the indictment was unsealed and in the hours after. His demeanor was described as a mix of defiance and resignation.
“He was not expecting the drama of the previous indictments,” the source said. “I think it was very expected. It just had a different flavor.”
Trump even went ahead Tuesday night with a previously planned dinner with Fox News executives, a source confirmed to NBC News. The dinner was first reported by The New York Times, which noted that they were lobbying Trump to attend the first presidential debate, which Fox is hosting.
At the heart of the four-count indictment are allegations that Trump tried to undermine the smooth transition of power that has been a hallmark of American democracy. Smith outlined three conspiracy-related charges: to defraud the United States, to obstruct the election’s official preceding and to disenfranchise official votes. The fourth count is related to allegations that Trump attempted to obstruct the vote-certification from proceeding.
The monumental moment in American history sets up a split screen of a former president who is facing legal jeopardy for trying to overturn an election — while also running to become president once again.
