Trump Implies That the Only Reason He’s Not in Prison Is Because “Got Rid of the FBI’s Top Officials”

William FurneyNov 7, 2023

Minute Read

Is Donald Trump above the law? He certainly seems to think he is — at least going on recent comments in which he appeared to admit to breaking the law and obstructing justice.

‘Free Today Because of Firings’

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Speaking at a Florida Freedom Summit, an event organized by Trump’s Republican Party, the former president suggested that had he not axed some of his key people, he might not be a free man today.

‘Top Guys Gone’

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Trump, 77, told the crowd: “I got rid of [former FBI director James] Comey. I got rid of the FBI’s top officials. I got rid of all of them. If I didn’t, I probably wouldn’t be standing here talking to you.”

Trump’s Legal Battles

Trump, who is the leading candidate for the GOP nomination for the 2024 presidential election, is facing 91 criminal charges after being indicted four times. They relate to the 2020 presidential election he lost to Joe Biden and charges of trying to overturn the result after he refused to accept defeat and allegedly unlawfully removing secret documents from the White House and storing them at his Mar-a-Lago resort home in Florida. He’s also battling civil fraud charges in New York connected with his Trump Organization property empire.

Strategic Comey Move

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Trump has previously spoken about firing FBI director Comey, saying he owed his survival to the move. “If I didn’t fire Comey, they were looking to take down the President of the United States … I don’t think I could’ve survived if I didn’t fire him,” he told broadcaster Mark Levin.

‘Trump Country’

Under a banner “Florida is Trump Country,” the former president told the crowd that he was confident of winning the state’s primary in January. Trump has an approximate 50-point lead over his GOP rivals in national polls, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

‘Landslide Election Win’

Trump told the crowd, referring to the presidential election next year: “We’re going to win the Florida primary for the third straight time, and we’re going to win the state by a landslide next November.”

Ahead in Florida Too

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The national polling figure is almost reflected in GOP voters’ views in Florida, where Trump is polling at 57.3 percent, according to an average of state-wide polls compiled by polling site FiveThirtyEight. DeSantis, Trump’s nearest challenger, is doing better in his home state, with 21.9 percent, compared to around 13 percent at national level.

Not Much Competition

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Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley has 6.1 percent polling support in Florida, according to the aggregated polls, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy is hardly polling in the southern state at all, with just 1.3 percent of voters’ preferences.

Flailing Campaign

DeSantis’ campaign got off to a solid start but has faltered over a number of issues that turned voters away. He has fallen around 30 points to his current level, a fact that Trump pointed out at the Florida event, saying “Now he’s like a wounded falling bird from the sky.”

Trump Behind Bars?

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Trump may not be a free man for much longer, if prosecutors get their way. He’s potentially facing decades in prison over the federal charges, as well as possibly having to pay a fine of at least $250 million — the sum prosecutors in the New York fraud case have requested. The judge has already found “convincing evidence” that years of fraud was committed by Trump, his adult children and executives at the Trump Organization, and has revoked several of the business’ trading licenses.

Democrats’ Presidential Ambitions

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The Democratic Party is hoping their man, Joe Biden, will win a second term in the White House, as the president is campaigning with Vice President Kamala Harris as his running mate. Although the vast majority of registered Democratic voters — around 70 percent, according to national polling — say they will vote for Biden in the next election, concerns linger about the incumbent’s advanced age, 80, and apparent frailty. Trump is not far behind, at 77, and some are asking questions about him too, and if he should also hang up his political gloves.

Re-Run of 2020?

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If Trump and Biden become their parties’ nomination choices for the 2024 race, it would set the stage for a re-run of the 2020 contest and the catastrophic events that followed. Trump, continuing to insist he won over Biden, urged his followers to protest the rest at the US Capitol, on January 6, 2021. Thousands of people turned up and violence erupted in which five people died. Around 1,000 Trump protesters were arrested, many of them since jailed for their parts in the siege on the seat of American democracy.