Trump: Fear of indictments ‘didn’t play into’ 2024 run

Former President Trump said in a new interview published on Friday that possible fears of being indicted “didn’t play into” his decision to run for president in 2024.

Trump has been the subject of several probes, including the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot attack; one in Georgia’s Fulton County regarding possible election interference in the state’s 2020 election; and one being conducted by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) over the Trump Organization and whether it illegally changed its asset valuation for financial gain. 

New York magazine Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi noted in a piece published on Friday that there was speculation that Trump had been advised to announce his White House bid early on the idea that it could complicate how prosecutors investigated the former president-turned-candidate. 

But Trump told Nuzzi in an interview “that didn’t play into it” and argued that “I did nothing wrong.” 

He told her that lawyers had not offered that advice to him and added that “I don’t know how you get indicted if you’ve done nothing wrong. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

The interview and story were released just days after the House select committee referred Trump to the Justice Department on four criminal charges, though federal prosecutors are not obligated to take up the panel’s referral. 

The Jan. 6 panel also released its final report on Thursday evening.

Republican leaders and lawmakers have become more comfortable in recent weeks criticizing Trump and straying from him on issues, especially in light of the November midterms where many of Trump’s favored candidates struggled to cross the finish line in their respective races. 

Polls also have shown Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who won his reelection bid in November by a whopping 19-point margin, surging ahead of Trump among GOP voters.