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Donald Trump is "much more rattled than he's projecting being" over the latest criminal indictment against him, but he "wants to give off the appearance that everything is fine," according to his biographer, Maggie Haberman.
The New York Times correspondent, who grew familiar with the former president before his time in office and went on to cover his White House period, told CNN that following the emergence of fresh charges on Tuesday, his team "are very upset" but also "relieved" that further details didn't come out.
The former president was charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) over his role in the events leading up to the January 6, 2021, uprising on the U.S. Capitol, which saw a gathering of his supporters attempt to frustrate the certifying of the 2020 election results. Newsweek approached the Trump campaign for comment via email on Wednesday.
The new indictment alleges the then-president was involved in efforts to overturn the results amid his claims of election tampering and that he initially made no attempts to try and stop the violence at the Capitol.
Trump was indicted on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
DOJ special counsel Jack Smith, whose office led the investigation, said in a news conference that the January 6 uprising was "fueled by lies—lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government: the nation's process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election."
Haberman said that there was "an effort by Jack Smith in the indictment to say that what Trump did goes beyond free speech and goes beyond free political expression, and was using the government to try to carry out these conspiracies."
The former president has continuously railed against the investigation and Smith, and has described the cases against him as being politically motivated. In a Truth social media post on Tuesday night, he asked rhetorically why the case had not been brought sooner, before answering: "They wanted it right in the middle of my campaign, that's why!"
In a statement, the Trump campaign accused the DOJ of election interference by announcing the charges during his 2024 presidential bid, and compared the "lawlessness of these persecutions" to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. It added: "Trump will not be deterred by disgraceful and unprecedented political targeting!"
Despite the forceful response to the latest indictment, Haberman said that Trump will be feeling the pressure of a third criminal indictment in a year.
"Privately, behind the scenes, he's very angry, he's much more rattled than he's projecting being," she said. "He wants to give off the appearance that everything is fine. He is very upset, folks around him are very upset.
"On the one hand they were relieved reading this indictment that there were not more details that they didn't know in it. On the other, there's a reference to six co-conspirators and that raises questions about: Will anyone else face charges and will more details be revealed if that happens?"
Haberman added: "He loves to project bravado; he also loves to be in control and have every moment that happens in his life exist on his terms. And so that's why he's tried to narrate his own indictments over the three that have happened so far."
The indictment claims that Trump enlisted the help of six co-conspirators in his alleged attempts to fraudulently overturn the election. While all six individuals remain unnamed in the indictment, prosecutors described them attorneys, a Justice Department official and a political consultant.
Noting that new co-defendants had been added to another criminal case against the former president in Florida, Haberman commented: "You are seeing in this sprawl around Trump's world how many people this indictment touches on and I think that that always creates a sense of anxiety for Trump because... he likes to project control and have control."
The Republican frontrunner is already facing a criminal case in New York relating to allegations of hush-money payments in the lead-up to the 2016 election; and another in Florida over charges of mishandling classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago residence last summer, following another investigation led by Smith.
In both cases, Trump has denied all wrongdoing and he has pleaded not guilty at arraignment hearings.
The various legal troubles the likely GOP nominee is currently facing appear to be straining his campaign finances, with recent FEC filings showing a large proportion of his funds being directed toward lawyers.
About the writer
Aleks Phillips is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter based in London. His focus is on U.S. politics and the environment. ... Read more