'Nervous' Trump considers delaying campaign launch over FBI raid and his favorite Senate candidates being duds: report
Former President Donald Trump is reportedly considering waiting until after the November midterm elections to announce a third presidential campaign as his legal troubles continues to mount. Trump is also facing concerns that Senate candidates he endorsed may not be as promising as he led on, CNN reports.
Trump initially planned to launch his 2024 campaign on Labor Day weekend, but the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this month and diminished hopes for a "red wave" in November.
Documents at Trump's Florida home were "likely concealed" to obstruct an FBI probe into his potential mishandling of classified materials, the Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday.
The filing provides the most detailed account yet of the motivation for the FBI raid this month on Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, which was triggered by a review of records he previously surrendered to authorities that contained top secret information.
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Before the raid, the FBI uncovered "multiple sources of evidence" showing that "classified documents" remained at Mar-a-Lago, the filing says.
"The government also developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed... and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government's investigation," the filing adds.
"There is a direct tie if Trump becomes a campaign ad in November and Republicans lose the Senate, and the last thing he wants is to be blamed," said a former Trump campaign aide.
CNN's report says Trump is "feeling nervous about prematurely diving into the 2024 primary" in light of the developments.The report cites nine former and current Trump aides and allies who requested anonymity.
"Everyone was operating under the assumption that shortly after Labor Day would be the best possible time to launch, but that has changed and he's being told to deal with the FBI stuff first," said a Trump adviser.
Nevertheless, some within Trump's orbit are urging him to launch immediately.
"They are going to blame him no matter what, so he should just announce," a person close to Trump said.
With additional reporting by AFP