After the news came out that the Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg would likely be dropping an indictment on President Donald Trump this week, we heard from a variety of people.
Perhaps a couple of the most important people we heard from were George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy.
Turley noted how “legally pathetic” the case was. He detailed how the feds refused to pursue it, how even Bragg had previously refused to pursue it. Turley noted some of the legal issues as well as the disparity between how this was seemingly being handled versus the situation with Hillary Clinton’s campaign which just got a fine from the FEC for falsely filing about the Steele dossier.
McCarthy didn’t hold back either on the nature of the case, laying out more problems in the case and terming it “nakedly political.” “Bragg would never bring against anyone other than Trump,” McCarthy said.
That’s the problem right there — that we all know this never would have been brought, that it was only brought because it’s Trump, because he’s running in 2024. That should shock and worry everyone. That’s why everyone on all sides of the aisle should be calling it out.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) immediately came out and said the right thing, condemning it. He also said they would be looking into the Manhattan DA to see if they were using federal funds for political prosecutions. He’s also organizing an effort to fight this. That’s what he should be doing and good for him for standing up.
Even Mike Pence who — let’s face it — isn’t a fan of Trump, came out and called it a political prosecution.
“Here we go again. Another politically charged prosecution against the former president of the United States,” Pence told reporters after a foreign policy forum in Des Moines on Saturday. “I think many Americans are taken aback at the unprecedented indictment of a former president, but also the fact that the Manhattan D.A., in the midst of a crime wave in New York City, then says that indicting the former president is his highest priority. It tells you everything you need to know about the liberal left in this country.”
Vivek Ramaswamy is now Trump’s opponent, but he also blasted the political move.
This is about Trump. But it’s also about more than Trump, it’s about standing up against the weaponization of the justice system.
This is about principle, not a person. This is about our country, not one man. The silence from the rest of the GOP field is deafening. pic.twitter.com/Jqi9o2d0wR
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) March 18, 2023
He’s right. When you can take out your political opponent, the former President of the United States, no one is safe and we are three steps further on that road to becoming a banana republic, rather than a country governed by the objective rule of law. And everyone, particularly those who want to be president or lead this country in any capacity should be standing up and condemning it.
Ramaswamy called out the silence from Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the weekend.
DeSantis spoke about the issue this morning, as my colleague Sister Toldjah reported.
JUST IN – Governor Ron DeSantis responds to reports of a possible Trump indictment.
"The Manhattan District Attorney is a Soros-funded prosecutor…They weaponize their office to impose a political agenda on society…The Soros District Attorneys are a menace to society!" pic.twitter.com/h7VN48XBV2
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 20, 2023
There were some good things he said in there. But at a time when every Republican should be rallying against this as one voice, not just for Trump, but for all Americans, he also made sure that he got a couple of shots in there about not knowing anything about dealing with a “pornstar.” After saying some good things condemning politicization, he then also said he wasn’t going to be involved.
This wasn’t the time for a gratuitous shot. I get that Trump has taken shots at him and normally it would be fair play to punch back, but at a time when you should be sending a message to the left that we’re all going to stand together against politicization, that’s not the way to go. Then to say that he was not going to be involved is in my opinion, also the wrong move. It should matter to him to be involved because it matters to all Americans, that our rule of law not be politicized. This is one of the most important issues we’re facing, from the bias in the FBI to the interference in speech, as the left tries to politicize everything.
Nikki Haley said something similar this evening saying that that’s just not anything Americans are talking about today.
NIKKI HALEY: "You never wanna condone any kind of prosecution that's being politicized…that's just political revenge…They can duke it out on that stuff, but that's just not anything that Americans are talking about today." pic.twitter.com/0rySxzV2P2
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 20, 2023
But indeed, it’s all Americans were talking about this weekend and on Monday.
DeSantis and Haley are doing this distancing game, to say we’re focused on what the American people are focused on. But this is what we are focused on as well. They need to understand that the way that the justice system has been perverted and particularly in the continuing effort to go after Trump is a big issue. They need to understand as I said, it isn’t just about Trump. He stands in the Democrats’ way so they want to take him out. But if the Democrats thought either Haley or DeSantis were enough in their way, they would do what they could to take them out too. If they don’t understand that then they’re missing a lot. We’ve seen Dems make everyone Hitler, even someone like Mitt Romney. So not standing up to them doesn’t stop them from coming for you. It only makes you look bad to the base and makes the left target you more because they think they can run over you.
You can’t not be involved in an existential and incredibly important question for our nation.
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