Republicans Declare the Trump Indictment Is a WITCH HUNT! Before Anyone's Seen It

washington, dc march 30 speaker of the house kevin mccarthy r ca speaks during a press conference following the passing of hr 1, also entitled, the lower energy costs act at the united states capitol on thursday march 30, 2023 in washington, dc photo by matt mcclainthe washington post via getty images
Trump Indictment: GOP Blindly Cries 'Witch Hunt'The Washington Post - Getty Images
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One thing that might stick out to you in the Republican reactions to Donald Trump's indictment in the state of New York is that they're blasting it as an unjustifiable political persecution before they have seen the indictment or what's in it. What are the charges, and how serious are the crimes alleged? What is the evidence to support them? Trump's defenders do not have the answers to these questions, but they pretend nonetheless to have the answer to the larger question that rests on top of them: Should Trump have been indicted?

The answer for his apologists is "no," and they'll cobble together some reasoning for that regardless of what we learn this week. What's in the indictment will not matter. He didn't do it, and if he did it, it's no big deal. (Related: It's a disgusting witch hunt, a rogue prosecutor attempting to interfere in the 2024 presidential election, and also it's good for his campaign.) Just for the record, let's look at the range of responses from these Republican luminaries before they actually saw any paperwork.

Kevin McCarthy

Alvin Bragg has irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election. As he routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public, he weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump. The American people will not tolerate this injustice, and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account.

It's difficult to say Bragg "weaponized" the justice system to commit an "abuse of power" before we see the indictment. Also, New York's bail policies for those accused of violent felonies have not changed since 1971.

Ronald DeSantis

The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American. The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent. Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda.

Here we have a similar attack on Bragg with the addition of a George Soros reference. The claim that Bragg has downgraded felonies to misdemeanors seems to trace back to a New York Post report that also suggests Bragg is soft on crime and bad at his job. This does not actually tell us anything about the Trump indictment, however.

The real peach here, though, is the Florida governor's pledge to fight Trump's "extradition" from Florida to another state in the same country, raising the specter of a Waco-style event at Mar-a-Lago. In reality, Trump is headed up to New York of his own accord. By the way, does DeSantis realize that he'll (soon be) running against this guy for the Republican nomination?

Lindsey Graham

The senator from South Carolina seemed to be on the edge of tears as he urged Fox News viewers to send Donald Trump some more money. It's funny, but Trump has also raised $4 million and counting. Meanwhile, this is just the latest instance where Ol' Lindsey seems to have undergone a remarkable turnaround since the night of January 6. Anyway, his interview with Sean Hannity continued in the same vein:

Jim Jordan

The tallest House Republican got in on this before an indictment was even filed, gathering some House committee chairs to issue Bragg a letter demanding he send them documents and communications from the Manhattan District Attorney's office and that he testify before Congress. The letter is wildly adamant that the investigation is improper, even as its authors ask for the materials they'd need to say so. Bragg responded by dismissing the letter (in one of his own) on the basis Congress had no jurisdiction over a state inquiry.

Nowadays, you can find Jordan on Maria Bartiromo's show pledging to defund the Justice Department and the FBI.

Mike Pence

The former vice president joined CNN on Indictment Night to not-announce his inevitable presidential campaign, but in the process he was questioned by Wolf Blitzer regarding the major news of the day. Pence shook his head disapprovingly even while Blitzer teed up his first query, then chalked up Trump's indictment to a "campaign-finance issue"—we still don't actually know—and called it "an outrage."

"It appears to millions of Americans to be nothing more than a political prosecution," he said, and I wonder where they'd get that idea? "It's driven by a prosecutor who literally ran for office on a pledge to indict the former president."

That last one has picked up steam over the last couple of days (it seems to have taken a beat for Trump's defenders to latch onto it) and it's one of the more compelling beefs with Bragg and his prosecution. However, it's not clear where this came from. When asked at one point during the campaign, Bragg said, “I've done this type of work under this type of scrutiny" and spoke about holding Trump accountable, but that's not exactly a promise to indict. You might believe Bragg folded to political pressure after it came out a year ago that he would not press charges against Trump in a different matter (possibly misrepresenting his assets on filings for financial gain), but we can't really know until we see the indictment.

Then Pence went on to say federal prosecutors "passed" on charging Trump in relation to the Stormy Daniels business at the time Michael Cohen got booked, which conveniently leaves out that Justice Department policy holds the sitting president cannot be charged with a crime.

Ronna (Romney!) McDaniel

Again, we hear that Bragg ran on "going after" Trump, which doesn't actually speak to the strength of the indictment. Then we got this business about how "we're learning in America the greatest crime you can have is to be a Republican," which was a prelude to McDaniel seemingly comparing Trump to a parent at a PTA meeting being classified as a "domestic terrorist," a zombie lie from a 2022 culture war battle. If you're a concerned parent at a school-board meeting, you can rest assured that you're just like the guy who allegedly paid off a porn star to stop her talking about the affair they had shortly after the birth of his child.

Asa Hutchinson

The Arkansas governor and newly announced presidential candidate at least seems to understand that Trump is his opponent in the primary, saying more than once already that Trump should withdraw from the race. He also cleared the low bar of respecting that there is a process that will now play out according to New York law:

Mitch McConnell

The Senate minority leader has the lead in the clubhouse, though. He's exercised his right to remain silent, which, depending on your view, constitutes declining to interfere in a local prosecution or a shrewd bit of politics.

McConnell is a rare bird here, though. For most, the starting point is, "Trump could not have done anything wrong," and it's no big deal even if he did. That's even though his flagship company was convicted on charges of tax fraud, conspiracy, and falsifying business records just a couple months ago. His eponymous Foundation and University were shut down years ago for their extremely above-board business practices. He's under investigation in Georgia, and there are two federal probes, and there are millions of people—represented by the leadership of the Republican Party—for whom he can be anything, ANYTHING! other than crooked.

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