HAPPENING TODAY: Trump to address GA GOP convention after federal indictment
Pro-Trump speaker lineup on tap in Columbus
Former President Donald Trump will address delegates at the Georgia Republican Party’s state convention Saturday. It will be his first public appearance since being hit with a 37-count indictment in the Justice Department’s classified documents investigation. He has been ordered to appear in federal court next Tuesday in Miami.
Trump has maintained his innocence in what he has called the “boxes hoax.” But prosecutors are accusing Trump and a close aide of mishandling sensitive material, including documents that detailed America’s nuclear programs. Furthermore, they are accusing Trump of taking part in a conspiracy to obstruct justice.
You can expect that these indictments will be top of mind when the former President takes the stage in Columbus. The speakers lineup includes a host of his biggest political allies, including former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Rome).
The federal indictment is not the only legal dilemma facing the former President. In March he was charged in New York for falsifying business records, for which he has pleaded not guilty. A jury last month found him liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll and has ordered him to pay her $5 million. He is asking for a new trial in the case.
And he faces issues right here in Georgia, where Atlanta prosecutors will soon announce charges in the election interference investigation. A special grand jury wrapped up its work earlier this year and it appears that decisions on charges will be announced in August.
Nevertheless, Trump remains the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination, a status that has put many of his rivals in the awkward position of defending the candidate that they are vying to take down.
This weekend’s convention is also noteworthy for who won’t be attending: Gov. Brian Kemp. The governor went from a Trump ally to nemesis after he refused to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory. Trump launched a personal effort to defeat Kemp and other top state Republicans whom he blamed for his loss — an effort that ended in embarrassing defeats.
Kemp has not endorsed a candidate for President, but he was overheard at a donor retreat in Tennessee urging his party to move on from the 2020 election. He also said that continued focus on Trump’s legal troubles will only benefit the Democrats.
In fact, a Kemp-aligned Super PAC is welcoming Trump to Georgia with a new poll finding the former President in a neck-and-neck race with Biden. Both leaders boast underwater favorable ratings in the survey.
“Winning statewide in the Peach State next year as a Republican means following Gov. Brian Kemp’s blueprint — not looking in the rearview mirror,” said Cody Hall, a close Kemp ally. “The road to the White House runs through Georgia, but it hits a dead end if Republicans nominate candidates next year who struggle to win general elections.”
Despite these warnings, the Georgia Republican Party is showing little signs of moving on from Trump. Some delegates have told reporters that the indictments will only fuel his poll numbers.
Still, you have some attendees who are not satisfied with the party’s pro-Trump direction. “I am unimpressed with the speaker line up after our governor put together a great win for Georgia and he won’t be here,” says Martha Zoller, a conservative radio host in North Georgia. “There’s something wrong here. If you are a Georgia conservative Republican, you need to take back your party.”
Democrats, meanwhile, say that they have more important things to focus on than Trump and his legal troubles. “I’m focused on getting Democrats elected and delivering for the American people,” said Erick Allen, the chairman of the Cobb County Democratic Party. “Not a traveling circus that has in its center ring a twice impeached and twice indicted ringleader.”