WASHINGTON — As former President Donald Trump battles a series of criminal and civil actions while he runs to reclaim the White House, he has put his legal woes at center stage, making them a rallying cry for his reelection.
It is a tactic that is likely to be on full display this week as his trial in New York over his role in a hush money payment in the 2016 race gets underway. Just as he has done with his other legal troubles, Trump has dismissed the charges in that case as part of an “election interference” scheme orchestrated by President Joe Biden.
He has described the cases against him with colorful hyperbole, defended his conduct with faulty comparisons and lobbed false attacks and baseless accusations at opponents and adjudicators alike.
Asked for evidence of Trump’s claims, the campaign did not directly address the matter but continued to insist, with no evidence, that Trump was the target of a “witch hunt” led by the Democratic Party.
Here’s a fact-check of some of his most repeated claims.
Baseless Accusations of a Biden-Orchestrated Conspiracy
WHAT TRUMP SAID
“Biden said it. He said — you know what their whole plan is? It was just released the other day. It didn’t — it was leaked by one of the many people that probably thought it was wrong. Their whole plan is to go after Trump in every way possible, especially criminally and legally.”
— at a rally in Georgia in March
This lacks evidence. Of the four criminal cases against Trump, two were brought by state or local prosecutors, meaning that the Justice Department itself has no control over them. His two other criminal cases are overseen by a special counsel, whom Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
It is unclear what leak Trump was referring to, and The New York Times was unable to find an instance of such a plan to target Trump “criminally and legally.” False posts circulating on social media have used deceptively edited clips to suggest that Biden or his aides have admitted to weaponizing the legal system.
