Expected Trump indictment ‘has done more to help’ his 2024 bid, SC’s Graham says
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said Saturday that the pending indictment of Donald Trump will only help the former president’s 2024 bid for the White House.
“The prosecutor in New York has done more to help Donald Trump get elected president than single person in America,” Graham told South Carolina Republican voters at the 2024 event hosted by conservative group Palmetto Family Council.
Prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office have signaled that a Trump indictment could be imminent for his involvement in a 2016 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump, who lost his reelection bid in 2020, in December launched his 2024 bid.
Graham, a Trump ally, is part of Trump’s South Carolina 2024 leadership team, which also includes Gov. Henry McMaster.
Early Saturday, Trump signaled on his social media site, Truth Social, that his arrest was imminent.
Trump posted, “THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”
Trump’s attorneys say they don’t expect any kind of stand off at Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, The Hill reported. The Associated Press reported Saturday that law enforcement in New York and are making security preparations for Trump to appear in a Manhattan courtroom.
As of Saturday morning, prosecutors had not yet notified Trump’s lawyers of an indictment, and at least one more witnesses was expected to testify in front of the grand jury, possibly delaying an indictment, according to the New York Times.
In his Saturday remarks, Graham noted that the previous district attorney in Manhattan and federal prosecutors looked at the case and chose not to prosecute.
“The case against the former president hinges on an untested and therefore risky legal theory involving a complex interplay of laws, all amounting to a low level felony,” Graham said. “You know what that means in English. They’re making stuff that they’ve never used against anybody because they hate Trump.”
Paul Lassanske, 61, of Summerville, said Saturday that he would “still very much support” Trump’s reelection bid despite an indictment.
“I think continuing to drag out an issue (against Trump) for more than six years is not only a form of injustice but also reprehensible,” he said.
Anna Ducker, 71, of Charleston, called the expected indictment “a joke.”
“He’s got his own money; he didn’t use campaign money,” she said.
Graham was one of several Republicans invited to speak Saturday at the Palmetto Family Council’s Vision ‘24 conference. Program speakers included declared 2024 presidential candidates former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and other possible contenders, such as U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who said he’ll make his decision in April.
Neither Scott nor Haley discussed the pending Trump indictment.
Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who recently jumped into the presidential race, called on former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to speak out against the charges against Trump.
“Maybe it’ll help him, maybe it’ll hurt him. Maybe it’ll help other candidates. Maybe it’ll hurt them. I don’t know. But I think we have too many people running that calculation right now,” Ramaswamy said. “Either you share my conviction here, and that’s fine. And if you don’t, be transparent with the voter base about why but you can’t pretend like that isn’t actually the most seismic item that we need to actually be taking a position on as a GOP movement today.”
U.S. Rep. William Timmons, R-Greenville, who also is backing Trump’s campaign, called the pending indictment a stunt by a progressive prosecutor.
“What they do not realize is just how much their political persecution of Trump will backfire,” Timmons said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2023 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Expected Trump indictment ‘has done more to help’ his 2024 bid, SC’s Graham says."
