For Donald Trump, the rebuttals were swift. As the first midterm polls upset Republican expectations, fingers were quickly pointed at the former president. Former aides publicly disparaged him, supporters once said he should no longer be the face of the party, and other Republicans wrote political obituaries. “The voters have spoken and said they want a different leader,” Winsome Earle-Sears, Virginia’s lieutenant governor, told Fox Business on Thursday, saying she would no longer support Mr. Trump if he runs again. In 2020, he co-chaired a group called Black Americans to Re-elect President Trump. “We want to win the White House, and we know that with Trump we’re much more likely to lose,” Paul Ryan, a former speaker of the House, told local media. Mr. Trump, he said, “is kind of heavy on our ticket.” But late Thursday night, Mr. Trump issued a formal notice of the “Special Announcement” planned for Nov. 15 at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. He has confirmed his intention to announce another presidential campaign. Mr. Trump has made a political career defying the expectations and advice of those close to him. But he may have another reason to run for the presidency. Mr Trump and his companies are the subject of at least four separate legal proceedings. Two of them, from the Justice Department and Fulton County, Georgia, remain under investigation, with prosecutors still deciding whether to file charges. The Trump subpoena marks the start of an epic battle Faced with the prospect of charges that could lead to huge fines or even jail time, Mr Trump may see defensive value in returning to the campaign trail. After all, what prosecutor would dare drag a presidential candidate into court? “If they do announce you, then in theory there’s an upside to it,” said Sean Spicer, a former White House spokesman under Mr. Trump. Judicial authorities have already moved cautiously toward Mr. Trump. In Fulton County, District Attorney Fani Willis went on hiatus for several weeks before the midterm elections in an effort to avoid charges of political interference. Her office, located a short walk from the state Capitol in Atlanta, is investigating allegations that Mr. Trump pressured Georgia officials to change the results of the 2020 election. The Justice Department, meanwhile, said it would continue to abide by a memo sent by William Barr, the US attorney general under Mr Trump, who wrote in 2020 that there was no investigation into “a declared candidate for president or vice president ». should be commenced without the “prior written approval” of the attorney general. It wouldn’t be a big step for Mr. Trump to read this as a shield against prosecution, simply declaring his candidacy once again. “I think the former president and his lawyers may feel that being an announced candidate may reduce the opportunity for an indictment,” said Samuel Olens, a Georgia attorney who served as the state’s attorney general from 2010 to 2016. Federal authorities must also contend with the lack of modern precedent for prosecuting a former president. “Taking such action would be seen by many as overtly political,” Mr. Olens said. The Justice Department “would be interested in dotting every i and crossing every t, just to make sure it was the appropriate action.” This can raise the bar on action. He doesn’t rule it out. Lawrence Martin: The US midterm elections could be the death knell for Trump The deference given to Mr. Trump as a former president did not prevent the FBI from investigating his estate, a move that Attorney General Merrick Garland personally approved. It also didn’t stop Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, from winning re-election this week. “We’ve sent a message, a shot to the most powerful corporations and people who think they’re above the law that they’re not, and that this Attorney General will hold them accountable,” she told supporters this week. Mrs. Willis, meanwhile, continued her work. Less than three weeks before the Nov. 8 midterm vote, a judge overruled Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s objections and ordered him to appear before a Georgia grand jury. A day after the midterm elections, another judge ordered former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to do the same. Mr. Gingrich is expected to appeal. Ms. Willis relied in part on evidence uncovered by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The committee has issued a subpoena for Mr. Trump and filed a court filing outlining how a criminal case could be made against him. Few expect the Jan. 6 panel to survive the midterm elections, which are likely to install a Republican majority in the House that could end its work. But control of the House has yet to be determined. Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has sought to rediscover the political alchemy that propelled him to the White House in 2016 after a campaign in which he turned back-to-back setbacks to his advantage. “WE WON!” he told Truth Social Friday, leveling baseless allegations of voter fraud. “Big win, don’t be silly. Stand on the rooftops and shout it out loud!’ Mr. Spicer, the former spokesman, acknowledged that the midterm vote was disappointing for Republicans but blamed Democrats for scaring people into voting for abortion and democracy. He also cautioned against extrapolating from midterm election results. If Mr. Trump runs, “his name and his agenda will be on the ballot,” said Mr. Spicer, who is now an anchor at Newsmax, a conservative broadcaster favored by Mr. Trump. “He has every right to do what he wants,” Mr Spicer said. “It will be up to the grassroots voters and our primary process to decide who the nominee will be.”
