Former President Donald Trump warned that there would be “big problems” if he is indicted over his handling of classified documents after he left office.
“I think if it happened, I think you’d have problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before. I don’t think the people of the United States would stand for it,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Thursday.
“You know that the legacy media will say you’re attempting to incite violence with that statement,” Hewitt replied.
“That’s not, that’s not inciting. I’m just saying what my opinion is,” Trump said. “I don’t think the people of this country would stand for it.”
Do Trump’s attacks on FBI cross a line? Former president’s comments raise concerns about illegal incitement
Trump’s comments come a little more than a month after the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago home, which has coincided with a sharp rise in threats leveled against federal agents.
Durbin: Trump rhetoric ‘careless and inflammatory’
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin called out Trump and political allies for ramping up rhetoric against law enforcement.
“Inviting the mob to return to the streets is exactly what happened here January 6, 2021,” the senator said at a Capitol Hill news conference Thursday, referring to the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol. “This president knew what he was doing at that rally and we saw the results. Five people died, 149 law enforcement agents were injured. His careless and inflammatory rhetoric has its consequences.”
Durbin:Trump, allies bear blame for ‘stunning’ rise in threats against FBI since Mar-a-Lago search
The FBI took documents as part of an ongoing investigation that may involve criminal laws forbidding improper removal of sensitive documents and obstruction of justice. Records were found in a storage room at Mar a Lago.
Lindsay Graham:Lindsey Graham warns of ‘riots in the street’ if Trump is prosecuted, claims ‘double standard’
The FBI’s search drew criticism from Trump supporters and other conservatives, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who warned in August that there will be “riots in the street” if the former president is prosecuted.
A federal judge Thursday appointed a veteran New York jurist to serve as an independent arbiter in the criminal investigation into the presence of classified documents of Trump’s Florida home, and refused to allow the Justice Department to resume its probe of the highly sensitive records.
Contributing: The Associated Press
