Georgia Election: Donald Trump has suddenly called off the planned press conference in which he intended to reveal a report that he believed would exonerate him from allegations of misconduct and accusations of attempting to meddle with the Georgia presidential election.
The ex-president has requested a judge to postpone his federal trial for a span of three years, wherein he is accused of attempting to undermine the 2020 presidential election.
US former President, Donald Trump
Following the public release of the 41-count indictment in Georgia on Monday, Trump strongly criticized the state charges on social media and revealed intentions to conduct a “news conference” where he would address his unfounded allegations of election fraud.
Read: Trump Indicted for Election Crime in Georgia, others
Nevertheless, on Thursday evening, Trump posted on Truth Social that the planned event was “no longer necessary” as his legal team would be presenting the required evidence in court to substantiate his assertions.
He said “Rather than releasing the Report on the Rigged & Stolen Georgia 2020 Presidential Election on Monday, my lawyers would prefer putting this, I believe, Irrefutable & Overwhelming evidence of Election Fraud & Irregularities in formal Legal Filings as we fight to dismiss this disgraceful Indictment,” he wrote on his social media site Thursday evening. He added, “Therefore, the News Conference is no longer necessary!”
After a grand jury’s decision to indict him and several others for an alleged extensive plot to unlawfully overturn the 2020 election results and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, Trump declared his intention to host the event mere hours later.
He had said he would use the “major News Conference” at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club Monday morning to release what he claimed was an “almost complete” report, adding, “Based on the results of this CONCLUSIVE Report, all charges should be dropped against me & others – There will be a complete EXONERATION!”
Over the course of the past two and a half years since the election, there has been no substantial proof to support the extensive fraud claims made by Trump. Republican authorities within the state, where three separate recounts validated President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump, have consistently maintained that his loss was lawful.
Attorneys representing the ex-president requested Judge Tanya Chutkan to schedule the trial for April 2026, which is over two years after special counsel Jack Smith’s proposed date of January 2024.
In a separate development, law enforcement in Georgia are currently looking into online threats targeting individuals who were part of a grand jury that voted to indict Mr. Trump and 18 associates. These individuals are accused of conspiring to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
In a previously recorded interview with former White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Fox Business, Mr. Trump asserted that his indictment in Georgia had provoked discontent among individuals “on both sides.” This comes after the ex-president and 18 associates were charged on Monday for orchestrating a criminal operation aimed at obstructing the American people’s choice and preserving Mr. Trump’s hold on power at any expense.
They have been ordered to surrender for arrest by 25 August where they will be booked into Fulton County Jail for mugshots and fingerprints to be taken – just like any other criminal defendant.
Trump’s advisors had consistently advised him to reduce the amount of time he spends expressing his complaints about the 2020 election and instead concentrate on outlining his future objectives. Trump has already received cautionary advice regarding his public statements. The federal judge presiding over the election conspiracy case against him in Washington recently cautioned the ex-president that there are constraints on what he can openly discuss regarding evidence in the investigation, especially as he seeks re-election for a potential second term in the presidency.
The judge said that the more “inflammatory” statements are made about the case, the greater her urgency will be to move quickly to trial to prevent witness intimidation or jury pool contamination.
“I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of the case,” she said.
Trump’s persistent assertions of fraud within Georgia had elicited disapproval from the state’s Republican Governor, Brian Kemp, whom Trump had attempted to influence as part of his endeavors to reverse his defeat in the pivotal state.
“The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen. For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward – under oath – and prove anything in a court of law,” Kemp wrote on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who Trump had endeavored to coerce into unilaterally overturning the election results and is now competing against Trump for the Republican nomination, reiterated a similar sentiment.
“The Georgia election was not stolen and I had no right to overturn the election on January 6th,” he said this week.