Elon Musk issued a warning to the Department of Justice (DOJ) after former President Donald Trump was indicted on multiple federal charges on Thursday.
“There does seem to be far higher interest in pursuing Trump compared to other people in politics,” Musk wrote in a Twitter post on Thursday night, responding to a comment made by a prominent user on the platform. “Very important that the justice system rebut what appears to be differential enforcement or they will lose public trust.”
It came after Trump revealed on Truth Social that he is facing indictment in connection to the DOJ’s investigation into whether he mishandled classified records. The DOJ has not publicly commented on Trump’s comments. On Friday afternoon, federal prosecutors unsealed the indictment against Trump and former aide Waltine Nauta.
Attorney General Merrick Garland is believed to have arrived at his office at DOJ headquarters in Washington, but avoided a crush of media. Garland arrived out of view of cameras and the DOJ remained publicly silent Friday morning. The scene was similar throughout the night Thursday, even amid the political storm unleashed by news of the indictment, according to The Associated Press.
“We are just not going to comment on this case,” White House principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton told reporters Friday on Air Force One, “and I’d refer you to the DOJ, which runs its criminal investigations independently.”
She added: “This is a president who respects the rule of law and has said that since day one. That’s precisely why we’re not commenting here. He believes in respecting the independence of the DOJ and protecting the integrity of their processes.”
Dalton said Biden and his staff “found out just like everybody else last night” that Trump was indicted from news reports and that the White House had “no advanced knowledge that this was coming.”
On Friday, Trump said that former prosecutor Todd Blanche will lead his defense in the federal case along with a law firm that will be “named later,” replacing his previous layers, John Rowley and Jim Trusty.
There does seem to be far higher interest in pursuing Trump compared to other people in politics.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 8, 2023
Very important that the justice system rebut what appears to be differential enforcement or they will lose public trust.
Blanche, a respected white-collar defense lawyer, joined Trump’s legal team just before his New York indictment in March. Before that, he was a partner at the firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP.
