There’s a Good Reason Trump Aides Don’t Think the New Indictment Is a Joke
A number of Donald Trump’s current aides are involved in the latest case against their boss. That could put them in some very difficult positions.Zachary Petrizzo
Politics Reporter
Published Aug. 07, 2023 4:57AM EDT
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty
Donald Trump has publicly joked about the four latest felony charges brought against him. But behind the scenes, Trump’s aides are quietly acknowledging that this latest indictment—over the ex-president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election—is far from a laughing matter.
“Most of us look at the January 6th stuff as the most concerning,” one Trump confidant told The Daily Beast. “There is real concern this must be handled perfectly.”
Two Trump advisers who spoke to The Daily Beast agreed with that analysis, though aides seem to separate Trump’s political and legal problems.
“Sure, yes,” one adviser said of this indictment being the most serious. “But it’s also the one he may be able to criticize as impossible to get a fair trial.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/here-it-is-folks-the-most-unhinged-reaction-to-trumps-jan-6-indictment
While Trump characteristically took the charges and orders from a judge to not communicate with any potential witnesses less than seriously—he almost immediately posted on Truth Social that, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU”—his aides tried to clean up those remarks quickly.
“The Truth post cited is the definition of political speech, and was in response to the RINO, China-loving, dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs,” an anonymous Trump spokesperson said, “like the ones funded by the Koch brothers and the Club for No Growth.”
A Trump spokesperson didn't respond to a request for comment on this story.
Although Trump’s orbit often has opinions divorced from reality, legal experts seem to agree these charges are the most serious.
But perhaps more interesting than their opinions aligning with the truth of the situation is that many current and former aides could play a part in a potential trial.
The Washington Post identified over the weekend at least seven current aides who are mentioned prominently in at least one of his indictments. In this newest charging document, there are six co-conspirators—five of them have been identified, and The New York Times strongly suggested Friday that the sixth was another current top aide.
That could make Trump’s campaign more than awkward for a number of advisers.
Another Trump confidant who routinely speaks to the former president said the speed at which the case is moving has left those inside Trump’s orbit nervous about having to turn against the boss, possibly during the campaign.
“You’re not going to be able to put your big toe in the water,” this source said of Trump aides cooperating without really cooperating. “The whole leg and body goes in. The prosecution will not allow them to dance in the margins.”
In all of Trump’s indictments and investigations, aides have played a prominent role in providing damning depositions—whether they’ve meant to or not.
Hope Hicks, for instance, already told the Jan. 6 Committee that Trump thought lawyer Sidney Powell’s election fraud theories were “crazy.”
But in this case, with co-conspirators and more potential charges looming on a quick timetable, the Trump confidant didn’t see how the former president’s aides could navigate cooperating while not actually being helpful to the prosecution.
“You either shut up completely or you spill,” this Trump source said.
