Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis held a press conference last night to discuss the grand jury indictment against Donald Trump and his cohorts, and if you’re waiting for the former president to respond with a press conference of his own, I have some good news. Politico reported:
Former President Donald Trump says he will hold a press conference this coming Monday in response to a Georgia grand jury indicting Trump and 18 allies on racketeering charges. Trump claimed in a Truth Social post Tuesday that a report from his team was conducted on the “presidential election fraud” and that all charges should be dropped based on the findings of that report.
Yes, according to a statement published to his social media platform, Trump will not only hold a “major” news conference at one of his golf clubs, he’ll also unveil a “Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable” report related to his ridiculous election conspiracy theories.
To hear the former president tell it, everyone will be so impressed by this “conclusive” document that, once it’s available, “all charges should be dropped against me.”
I don’t imagine the idea for this little stunt came from Trump’s defense attorneys, who would probably prefer that their indicted client exercise his right to remain silent. I also suspect that prosecutors will be paying close attention to Monday’s event, watching for incriminating admissions from a man who’s blurted out damaging information about himself before.
But just as important is the idea that Trump, more than 1,000 days after his defeat, still believes he can produce some kind of “report” that will turn fiction into fact.
If the former president’s followers saw this morning’s message and started getting their hopes up, I’d recommend that they lower their expectations. Sure, it’s possible that the Republican and his team uncovered evidence that’s eluded them for two-and-a-half years. And sure, it’s possible that Trump has seen this evidence and intends to sit on it for six days.
But it’s far more likely that Trump’s election lies will remain election lies, even after his “irrefutable” document reaches the public. I can say this with some confidence because we’ve been here before.
Last summer, for example, after the bipartisan Jan. 6 committee released its findings, Trump issued a 12-page report that he claimed offered proof of election “cheating.” In reality, it was an embarrassing rehash of discredited nonsense the Republican had peddled before. A Washington Post analysis added soon after, “The former president released a 12-page document articulating something of a greatest-hits collection for his long-standing crusade against reality. Peppered with the expected pejoratives against the Jan. 6 committee, it’s revealing not for what it says about the election but for what it says about Trump. Even now, 19 months after the election, he demonstrates no ability to discern fact from fiction about the election results but also shows no interest in trying to draw such a distinction.” That was 14 months ago. Now we’re supposed to believe that while the first “report” was a dud, the sequel will be so amazing that it’ll undo multiple criminal indictments. This is absurd. Trump will unveil evidence that bolsters his election conspiracy theories right around the time he unveils his comprehensive plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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