Republicans Including Pence, DeSantis, McCarthy And Don Jr. Rage Against Criminal Charges

Topline

Republicans from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) rallied around former President Donald Trump following his history-making criminal indictment in Manhattan on Thursday, attacking the probe as a “weaponization of the legal system”—matching Trump’s accusations of a “Witch-Hunt” against him.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) (Photo by Alex … [+] Wong/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

DeSantis, who is expected to challenge Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, called the indictment “un-American” in a tweet that did not directly mention Trump, adding that he will not assist in an extradition request (it’s unclear if Trump will need to be extradited from his Florida home as his attorneys have suggested he will surrender voluntarily).

McCarthy targeted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a tweet, accusing him of “routinely” freeing “violent criminals to terrorize the public” and warning that the House will hold Bragg and “his unprecedented abuse of power to account,” while House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) responded with a one-word tweet: “Outrageous” (Bragg has rebuffed House GOP lawmakers’ attempts to investigate his Trump probe).

Former Vice President Mike Pence told CNN the charges are an “outrage” that will “only further serve to divide our country.”

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) called Bragg a “socialist” in a statement that echoed Trump’s claims of a “witch hunt,” and urged supporters to text a number that responded with a link to a Trump fundraising website (Trump’s campaign also sent a fundraising email highlighting the indictment as a “disgusting witch hunt.”)

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close ally of Trump, predicted that the case will end when “Trump wins in court and he wins at the ballot box,” he told CNN, adding that the indictment marks “a shocking and dangerous day for the rule of law in America.”

Conservative Political Action Committee Chair Matt Schlapp called the indictment “an outrageous breach of constitutional norms and a continuation of maniacal political prosecution” (Schlapp is facing a lawsuit from a GOP campaign staffer accusing him of sexual assault).

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who was endorsed by Trump in his 2022 campaign, called Bragg’s probe “blatant election interference” based on “an unprecedented, doomed-to-fail legal theory and a baseless misdemeanor charge from seven years ago” (it remains unclear what charges Trump will face, or whether they are misdemeanors or felonies).

Two of Trump’s children also weighed in on the indictment on Twitter: Eric Trump called it “third world prosecutorial misconduct,” while Donald Trump Jr. claimed his father’s opponents are “willing to turn us into a Banana Republic to stop him.”

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D)—whose prison sentence for trying to sell Barack Obama’s former Senate seat was commuted by Trump—compared Trump’s indictment to his own criminal conviction, calling it “more than déjà vu all over again to me” in an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Key Background

Trump became the first former president to be indicted in U.S. history Thursday, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to Forbes. A Manhattan grand jury voted to bring charges against Trump in connection to payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence about their alleged 2006 affair. While the indictment is under seal and the specific charges have yet to be made public, prosecutors were widely expected to pursue a misdemeanor falsifying business records charge against Trump, since his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was reimbursed for the payments to Daniels by the Trump Organization under a contract that falsely specified the services were for legal fees. The charge could be elevated to a felony if prosecutors can tie it to an intent to commit a second crime, which is likely to center on a violation of campaign finance laws, after federal prosecutors determined in their 2018 case against Cohen that the payments were intended to sway the results of the 2016 presidential election.

Chief Critic

Trump, who has denied the alleged affair with Daniels, blasted the indictment as “the unthinkable” in a statement Thursday afternoon, calling it the latest step in what he described as “a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement.”

What To Watch For

When Trump will be formally arrested and arraigned. Bragg’s office said in a statement released Thursday that his office has contacted Trump’s team to arrange for his surrender, and Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, said he expects the arraignment to take place early next week. Trump will likely be fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken, but is expected to be released under New York bail laws that require most non-violent defendants to be freed without bail.

Contra

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)—a frequent Trump critic—called the indictment “unprecedented,” but added, “so too is the unlawful conduct in which Trump has been engaged.” Some other Democrats were more reserved: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged Trump’s supporters to let the judicial process “proceed peacefully and according to the law,” in a statement Thursday that stopped short of applauding the indictment. “Mr. Trump is subject to the same laws as every American,” Schumer added. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) echoed fellow Democrats in tweeting that “no one is above the law,” adding that she hopes Trump will “peacefully respect the system.” The White House declined to comment on the case on Thursday, the New York Times reported, sticking to its strategy of publicly distancing itself from the case.

Tangent

Trump’s enemies made jabs at the former president. Yusef Salaam, a member of the exonerated “Central Park Five” who Trump had a hand in implicating in an infamous 1989 Manhattan rape case, tweeted “Karma.” Trump notoriously ran full-page ads in New York’s major newspapers that argued the death penalty should be reinstated in New York, while referencing the rape of a woman in Central Park that Salaam and four other teenagers were eventually wrongfully imprisoned for. Meghan McCain—the daughter of late Republican Arizona Senator John McCain—tweeted “I like people who aren’t indicted!,” turning the tables on Trump’s controversial 2015 statement that he likes “people who weren’t captured,” a reference to the five-and-a-half years McCain spent as a war prisoner in North Vietnam during his time in the Navy.

Crucial Quote

Daniels’ lawyer Clark Brewster tweeted: “The indictment of Donald Trump is no cause for joy. The hard work and conscientiousness of the grand jurors must be respected. Now let truth and justice prevail. No one is above the law #teamstormy.” Daniels retweeted the post with the words “thank you.”