Trump likens Democrats to ‘Gestapo’
Ex-president rails against prosecution at Florida fundraiser
Palm Beach, Fla. — Former President Donald Trump escalated his attacks on prosecutors at a private luncheon here Saturday, referring to special counsel Jack Smith with an expletive and accusing Democrats of “running a Gestapo administration,” according to audio provided by a Republican donor.
He called Smith — who is prosecuting federal cases involving Trump’s handling of classified documents and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — an “a--hole.” He continued to mock another prosecutor, Democrat District Attorney Fani T. Willis of Georgia’s Fulton County, for her past relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade, calling her “Mrs. Wade” and “a real beauty.”
The former president also told the crowd at his Mar-aLago Club that he was surprised when he got indicted.
“Once I got indicted, I said holy s---, I just got indicted. Me, I got indicted. In fact, Lara, if she knew I got indicted, she probably wouldn’t have joined the family,” he said, referring to the wife of his son Eric. “I got indicted like Alphonse and like all these people,” a reference to the gangster Al Capone.
Trump — who faces 88 criminal charges in four separate state and federal cases — has made attacks on prosecutors a central part of his bid for a return to the White House and has repeatedly claimed without evidence that he is the victim of a weaponized legal system. Saturday’s remarks illustrated the central role his legal cases are playing in his bid to return to the White House for a second term, even in a private setting.
Trump was indicted last year in the four cases: New York charges of falsifying records to allegedly cover up a hush money payment to an adult-film actress during the 2016 presidential campaign; federal charges of mishandling classified documents and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them; and federal and Georgia state charges of interfering with the 2020 election results. He is standing trial in the hush money case.
The remarks were part of a wide-ranging talk Trump gave to donors and lawmakers at his Florida estate. About 400 people who gave at least $40,000 each attended, according to people familiar with the planning who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private event. He spoke for about 90 minutes, and the remarks veered widely.He spent time musing about who would be his vice president, with a number of the potential contenders in the room. And he offered unequivocal praise for the embattled House Speaker, Mike Johnson, R-La., who was in the crowd, telling him that “you’re doing a very good job.”