If it’s MONDAY… Prosecutors unseal federal indictment of Donald Trump, which accuses him of lying and scheming to keep classified documents stored at his home… Early polls show indictment hasn’t changed GOP perceptions of Trump… Trump delivers speech over the weekend: “In the end, they’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you”… How the judge overseeing Trump’s trial could hurt the Justice Department’s case… And President Biden meets with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg at 3:15 pm ET.
But FIRST... Donald Trump survived the weekend.
And here’s why: We saw most of the Republican Party rally behind him, both before and after the federal indictment against Trump was unsealed.
The early polls (though not with our favorite methodologies) showed most Republicans standing behind the former president, and found him leading the GOP race nationally by a commanding margin.
Trump’s Republicans rivals defended him, with the exceptions being the usual suspects (Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson).
And even a Republican senator like South Dakota’s Mike Rounds — who has endorsed Tim Scott and who believes the GOP should go in a direction away from Trump — criticized the Justice Department.
“It is unacceptable that sensitive information, which could undermine our national strategy and security, has been treated so carelessly by current and former members of the executive branch,” Rounds said in a statement, per NBC’s Frank Thorp and Julie Tsirkin.
“At the same time,” Rounds added, “I am concerned about the Department of Justice’s decision to pursue this case against the former president at a time when our current president has also admitted to the possession of classified documents while out of office.”
Legally, the federal indictment against Trump might be damning. But politically, it doesn’t seem to have any changed any GOP hearts and minds.
At least so far.
And it does make you wonder: What if Trump had NOT been indicted in that alleged hush-money/Stormy Daniels case before the charges in this federal classified-documents case?
Remember when Ron DeSantis didn’t originally comment on the hush-money charges — but then later did so after Team Trump and its supporters complained?
But this time around, DeSantis quickly commented and defended Trump
Headline of the day
Data Download: The number of the day is … 37
That’s the number of federal counts that former President Donald Trump faces related to the investigation into his handling of classified documents, according to an indictment unsealed Friday.
Trump stands accused of 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information, and then single counts of false statements and representations, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document, concealing a document in a federal investigation and a scheme to conceal. The former president called the indictment “ridiculous and baseless” over the weekend.
Read some of the key takeaways from the indictment on NBCNews.com.
Other numbers to know:
61%: The share of Americans who believe last week’s federal indictment of Donald Trump is serious, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.
76%: The portion of likely Republican primary voters who believe the charges against Trump are politically motivated, per a CBS News/YouGov poll.
More than 20: The number of years that Jason Owens, who was named the new head of the U.S. Border Patrol on Friday, has worked for the agency.
580,000: The number of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, recipients who are still in legal limbo, 11 years after the program initially granted legal status for illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as minors.
$3 billion: The amount that North Korean hackers have stolen in digital heists, which is now being used to fund part of the dictatorship’s ballistic missile program.
$25 billion: The value of George Soros’ empire, which he is passing down to his son, Alexander Soros, who is 37.
81: The age of Ted Kaczynski, known as the “Unabomber,” when he was found dead in prison on Saturday.
86: The age of Silvio Berlusconi, an Italian media tycoon who served three separate stints as prime minister, when he died, Italian media announced Monday.
Eyes on 2024: A weekend of GOP endorsements
It was a busy weekend on the presidential campaign trail, as Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis both rolled out more endorsements.
DeSantis picked up his first endorsement from a sitting governor, with Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt backing DeSantis at an event hosted by the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down. Most governors have stayed out of the presidential primary so far, with just two others — South Carolina’s Henry McMaster and West Virginia’s Jim Justice (also a Senate candidate) — previously endorsing Trump.
Trump picked up endorsements from two Georgia House members as he traveled to the Peach State — GOP Reps. Andrew Clyde and Mike Collins. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson also reiterated at the North Carolina state GOP convention that he was backing Trump (Hudson first endorsed Trump back in November). That means more than 50 Republican House members are backing the former president, which is almost a quarter of the GOP conference.
(Five House members have endorsed DeSantis, and just one has backed former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Former Vice President Mike Pence’s brother Greg, a congressman from Indiana, said before Pence launched his campaign that he would support his brother if he ran.)
And Trump made some endorsement news of his own this weekend. At the North Carolina convention, Trump shouted out controversial Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is running for governor, per the NBC News team covering the convention, Sarah Dean, Nnamdi Egwuonwu, Blayne Alexander and Charlie Gile.
“And I’m going to endorse Mark but I’m not going to tell you about it tonight, okay. We’ll save it for another time. But you can count on it, Mark.”
In other campaign news…
I’m not leaving: Trump told Politico over the weekend that he wouldn’t drop out of the presidential race even if he was convicted, and added “I don’t care that my poll numbers went up by a lot. I don’t want to be indicted.
Rally time: President Joe Biden will attend his first political rally this week, but it’s not being held by his campaign — the rally will be hosted by local unions in Philadelphia.
On the air (kind of): The super PAC backing former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie launched its first TV ad in New Hampshire on Sunday, although AdImpact just tracked $3,500 spent on the ad in the Boston market.
Help for Harris: Politico reports that EMILY’s List, which backs women candidates who support abortion rights, plans to spend “tens of millions of dollars” to boost Vice President Kamala Harris.
Another one?: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez teased a potential presidential run during a “Fox News Sunday” appearance, encouraging viewers to “stay tuned” and adding he would be making a “big speech” this week at the Reagan Library.
Guess who’s PAC: Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is launching a new PAC aimed at boosting the Biden-Harris ticket and other Democrats for the upcoming cycle, NBC News’ Henry J. Gomez reports.
Thanks but no thanks: GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher, who some Republicans had been encouraging to run for Senate, announced Friday that he will not be challenging Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Justice and a perceived injustice: The Messenger reports on the strained relationship between West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Republican Gov. Jim Justice ahead of a possible Senate bid, with Manchin criticizing the governor for firing his wife from a government post in 2018.
Democrats ready to rock n’ roll: The AP delves into how the Mississippi governor’s race is giving Democrats some hope with Mississippi Public Service Commission Brandon Presley, Elvis Presley’s second cousin, taking on GOP Gov. Tate Reeves.
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world:
China has been spying on the U.S. from Cuba for years, a White House official confirmed over the weekend.
Among right-wing threats against his speakership, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is taking a “YOLO” approach to the job, NBC News’ Scott Wong reports.
