Republican lawmakers have criticized Trump’s potential indictment as “politically motivated” and “abuse of power.”
Republican lawmakers have criticized the prospect of indicting former President Trump after he said he expected to be arrested next week, calling the possible move “politically motivated” and an “abuse of power.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he will direct appropriate committees to investigate whether any federal funding is being used to “undermine our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecution.”
“Here we go again – an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals get away while he pursues political revenge on President Trump,” he said. tweeted, referring to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Condemnation of possible accusations from McCarthy and other Republicans came after Trump posted to Truth Social early Saturday that “illegal leaks” indicated he would be arrested on Tuesday.
Bragg appears close to deciding whether to press charges against Trump after inviting the former president to testify before a grand jury he convened last week. Trump’s lawyer said Trump would not accept the invitation.
The district attorney’s office is investigating a payment former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election to keep her quiet about an affair she had with Trump. In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations involving payouts and other charges and served a prison sentence.
Cohen said he paid Daniels at Trump’s direction. Trump admitted he reimbursed Cohen for the payment, but said it was unrelated to his campaign finances.
Trump’s top allies joined McCarthy in denouncing the investigation as politically motivated and siding with the former president, who insisted he did nothing wrong.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) tweeted that Trump would “gain even more” than he already intended if Bragg sued him and “did nothing wrong.” She said that any Republicans who support the “persecution” of the former president will face consequences.
“And those Republicans who support and welcome his persecution or do nothing to stop him will be exposed to the people and will be remembered, despised and punished by the set-up,” Greene said.
Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) said he was asked several times if Trump’s accusation would cause him to withdraw his support for Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Trump endorsed Vance when he ran in the GOP primary for a vacant Senate seat in Ohio.
“Answer: hell no. The politically motivated prosecution makes the case for Trump stronger. We just don’t have a real country if justice depends on politics,” Vance said.
Rep. Eliza Stefanik (RN.Y.), chair of the Republican Conference of the House of Representatives, said in statement that the “radical left” will arrest Trump because they know they can’t beat him in the election. She said it was “un-American” and hit “a dangerous new third world low”.
“What these corrupt left-wing prosecutors like Alvin Bragg and their socialist allies fail to understand is that America First patriots have never been more energized to exercise their constitutional rights to peacefully organize and VOTE with the constituency. urns to save our great republic,” she said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) said Saturday at Vision 24, a conservative conference in South Carolina, that Bragg “did more” to get Trump re-elected than anyone else in the country.
“They are making up things that they have never used against anyone because they hate Trump,” Graham said.
He said the case was moving forward because “they’re afraid of Trump.”
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, conservative entrepreneur, said Blaming Trump would be a “national disaster.”
“Had a Republican prosecutor in 2004 used the formality of campaign finance to arrest then-candidate John Kerry, [President George W.] Bush & [Vice President Dick] Cheney was in power, the liberals would have revolted – and rightly so, ”said Ramaswamy.
He said accusing Trump would undermine the credibility of the country’s electoral system and Bragg should reconsider the charges against him. He argued that the case would not have resulted in anyone else being prosecuted and would have been nothing more than a misdemeanor and not a felony.
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“Our entire country is now walking on thin ice, and we cannot afford to politicize the justice system, otherwise we will reach the limit,” he said.
Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas) also argued that the case is not strong, speaking it is based on “stretched, convoluted legal theory”.
— Updated at 13:52.
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