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One of Donald Trump's advisers has said he "respects the law" amid concern over the former president's comment saying he would act as a dictator on the first day of his presidency.
Kimberly Guilfoyle said Trump will work to "restore integrity" if he wins the presidency in 2024. Speaking to Newsmax on Monday, she said: "Trump is a man who respects the law, is going to follow it, is going to make sure he has people who aren't political hacks in positions of power, and restore the integrity of our governmental institutions. DoJ, CIA, FBI and the like."
Trump is currently facing 91 criminal charges over four indictments and he denies any wrongdoing. He has said he will seek "retribution" against his opponents, but denied he would become a dictator "other than day one."
The 45th president, talking at an Iowa town hall last week, said he would act forcefully to expand oil drilling and close the southern border with Mexico.
Guilfoyle was responding to comments by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in a recent interview with CNN's Laura Coates in which he laid out a hypothetical situation a president could use to abuse their office and seek revenge on political opponents.
Holder, appointed by President Barack Obama, said: "If the president told a compliant attorney general, 'I don't like what this congressman said about me or did about me [or] did to me over the course of the last two or three years, open an investigation on that person,' that attorney general could tell a compliant United States attorney to do just that.
"[They can also] talk to a compliant FBI director who could be placed by the president to open an investigation and look through that person's life for anything that you can possibly find."
Trump continues to say the criminal and civil charges against him are politically motivated.
This week, Trump railed against special counsel Jack Smith after he requested the Supreme Court look at if the 2024 presidential candidate can be criminally charged over things he did when he was president.
Smith, who brought two indictments against Trump including charges in Washington, D.C., regarding alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, asked the Supreme Court if Trump is immune from the charges against him.
Trump denies all of the four charges in the American capital, which are: Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights; conspiracy to defraud the United States; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.
Smith asked if "a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin."
Previously, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied Trump's request for immunity on December 1.
Trump appealed and this was due to be decided by an appeals court, potentially delaying the trial currently set for March 4.
Smith's move means this process can be bypassed and the Supreme Court has said a response from Trump is now due before 4 p.m. on December 20.
A spokesperson for Trump accused Smith of interfering with the 2024 election.
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About the writer
Benjamin Lynch is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is U.S. politics and national affairs and he ... Read more