Topline
Allies of former President Donald Trump attacked President Joe Biden and accused him of using the Justice Department to attack his chief potential opponent and influence the 2024 election, after Trump disclosed he was indicted in the long-running federal probe into his handling of classified documents at his Mar-A-Lago residence after leaving office.
Former President Donald Trump and his allies have accused Biden of weaponizing the justice system … [+]
Key Facts
Trump, who announced his indictment on his Truth Social platform Thursday, spent most of late Thursday evening and early Friday morning sharing social media posts of other GOP leaders denouncing the move and attacking Biden along with clips from Fox News.
On Truth Social, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said it was “unconscionable” for the president to indict the “leading candidate opposing him” and added that the GOP House members would “hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable.”
Trump also shared a Truth post by House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who also accused Biden of “weaponizing” the DOJ “against his own political rival,” and referred to the indictment as a “sham.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) tweeted the incident makes America look like a “banana republic”—a remark also used by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)—adding that trust in the DOJ has “completely been lost.”
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, implied that the DOJ’s decision to indict Trump on Thursday was an effort to distract from “significant findings related to Joe Biden’s corruption”—an accusation that several lawmakers have leveled against Biden without producing any documents that prove it.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) implied that the Trump indictment was the result of there being “two standards for justice” as he accused the FBI and DOJ of redacting and restricting access to documents pertaining to the GOP’s allegations against Biden, despite the FBI agreeing to offer full access to the documents to the House committee.
Surprising Fact
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has emerged as Trump’s biggest challenger in the race for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination, also criticized the indictment on Twitter and accused the DOJ of being overzealous in their pursuit of Trump. Unlike the messages from other top GOP leaders, Trump did not share DeSantis’ remarks on his Truth Social account. The former president has been relentlessly attacking DeSantis over the past few weeks after he officially announced his run.
Key Background
Trump was the first person to go public with the news of his indictment in the classified documents case in a Truth Social post on Thursday afternoon. The former president has been asked to appear before a federal court in Miami on Tuesday. The federal prosecutors have not released details of the various charges but the New York Times reported Trump has been charged on seven criminal counts. These purportedly include willful retention of national defense documents, obstruction of justice, and making false statements. This is the first instance of a former U.S. president being charged with federal crimes.
Further Reading
Trump Says He Was Indicted In DOJ Classified Documents Probe (Forbes)
Espionage Act: What To Know About The Century-Old Law Trump’s Being Charged Under (Forbes)
Trump Indictment: McCarthy, DeSantis, Musk Blast DOJ Charges As Some Democrats Applaud (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2023/06/09/trump-allies-accuse-biden-of-weaponizing-doj-after-his-indictment-in-classified-documents-case/