Trump cancels a press conference regarding allegations of election fraud, citing advice from lawyers

New York (AP) – Former President Donald Trump He now says he will not hold a press conference next week to reveal what he claims is new “evidence” of fraud in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election — though no fraud has ever been proven — citing attorneys’ advice as he prepares to face trial in two criminal cases stemming from His election lies.

No convincing evidence of the widespread fraud Trump alleges has emerged in the two-and-a-half years since the election, in Georgia or anywhere else, despite Trump’s baseless claims. State Republican officials have long said he lost fairly and Three tales There he confirmed President Joe Biden’s victory.

“Instead of releasing the report on the fraudulent and stolen Georgia 2020 presidential election on Monday, attorneys would rather put this, I believe, irrefutable proof of election fraud and irregularity in official legal filings as we fight to have this outrageous accusation dismissed,” Trump wrote. His social networking site Thursday announced his reversal.

Trump announced that he would hold the event Hours after a grand jury was formed in Georgia They voted to indict him and others late Monday in what they claim is a sweeping plot to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election and halt the peaceful transfer of power.

He had said he would use the “major news conference” at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club on Monday morning to release what he claimed was an “almost complete” report that would exonerate him.

Federal and state election officials and Trump’s attorney general He said there is no credible evidence that the election was tainted. As were the former president’s allegations of fraud Completely rejected by the courtsincluding justices appointed by Trump.

In Georgia, the state that was the focus of his latest indictment, Three tales conducted after the elections – each of which confirmed his loss to Biden.

Advisers have long urged the former president to spend less time airing his grievances about the 2020 election as he runs for re-election and more time to focus on his plans for the future. While such rhetoric invigorates his loyal base, it alienates more moderate and independent voters, and it is also often criticized in interviews by longtime Trump supporters, who say they feel it is time to move on.

But the cases against him have raised the stakes dramatically. Supervising Federal Judge Election conspiracy case against Trump in Washington He warned him last week That there are limits to what he can say publicly about the evidence in the investigation while he fights for a second term in the White House.

The judge said that the more “inflammatory” statements were made about the case, the greater her urgency would be to move quickly to trial to prevent intimidation of witnesses or contamination of the jury assembly.

“I will take whatever measures are necessary to preserve the integrity of the case,” she said.

However, Trump has made it clear that he sees the cases against him in Georgia and Washington as an opportunity to try to report his false allegations.

Trump’s renewed attacks on Georgia’s voting integrity this week were met with swift criticism from the state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, whom Trump has tried to pressure as part of his effort to overturn his loss in the coastal state.

“The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen. For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward — under oath — and prove anything in a court of law,” Kemp wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump tried to pressure to unilaterally overturn the election results and who is now challenging Trump for the Republican nomination, echoed that message.

“Georgia’s election wasn’t stolen and I didn’t have the right to annul the January 6 election,” he said this week.

Trump, the first former president in US history to be indicted, also faces criminal charges in Florida over his handling of classified documents and his alleged efforts to obstruct the investigation, as well as in New York over unwanted payments to women. during his 2016 campaign.