The grand jury in the Stormy Daniels case voted to put ex-President Donald Trump on trial over a possible illegal payment of hush money to the former porn actress, sparking a political earthquake. Members of Trump's Republican Party are up in arms against the decision and New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who plans to read Trump the indictment next week. Representatives of the Democrats, however, defend the jury's verdict. And members of Trump's family also speak up.
Trump is outraged by the indictment and sees himself as an innocent victim of a "witch hunt" by "the left-wing Democrats". Prosecutor Bragg is doing the "dirty work" for President Joe Biden, the 76-year-old railed in a written statement. "This is political persecution and electoral interference at the highest level in history."
Trump accuses the Democrats of trying to politically harm him since his first presidential bid for the 2016 election and of having harassed him with various investigations during his tenure. Now they have "done the unthinkable - to accuse a completely innocent person in an act of blatant electoral interference". "That has never happened in the history of our country," complains the 76-year-old. All of this is an attack on the country and will backfire on Biden and his Democrats.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed "the House will hold Alvin Bragg accountable for his unprecedented abuse of power." On Twitter, McCarthy accused Bragg of "irreparably damaging our country in an attempt to interfere in our presidential election." "While he routinely unleashes violent criminals to terrorize the public, he has instrumentalized our sacred legal system against President Donald Trump," the Trump ally claims.
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks of a "scandal". "Millions of Americans are under the impression that this is nothing more than a political indictment," says Pence, who was Trump's deputy from 2017 to 2021, on the US broadcaster CNN. "This will only serve to further divide this country ." The actions of the prosecutor's office in Manhattan send a terrible message about the American justice system. No one is above the law, not even ex-presidents, Pence emphasizes. But in this case, which involves campaign finance, it never would have been "This is a bad decision by a political prosecutor."
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says the legal system has been abused. "When the legal system is used as a weapon to advance a political agenda, the rule of law is turned on its head," tweeted Trump's possible rival in the Republican presidential race. "Florida will not support an extradition request," adds DeSantis, although such a request is not at all in the air and, according to his lawyers, Trump wants to come to New York voluntarily.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the conservative chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, responded with one word: "Outrageous."
Far-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Trump's most staunch congressional supporters, claims without providing any evidence that Trump is innocent and "the only one standing in the way of these modern tyrants."
Senator Lindsey Graham, also a close Trump ally, called the indictment "one of the most irresponsible decisions in American history that a prosecutor has ever made."
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as Trump's White House press secretary, is calling for Bragg to resign.
California Rep. Adam Schiff, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, noted that while an indictment against a former president was "unique" in the country's history, so was the wrongful conduct for which Trump has been charged. "A rule of law must hold the rich and powerful accountable, even if they hold high office. Especially if they do it. Anything else is not democracy," Schiff tweeted.
Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, Vice Chairman of the Democrats, quoted Thomas Paine, who wrote in his 1776 book Common Sense that "in America the law is king".
New York Rep. Dan Goldman, who served as principal counsel in Trump's first impeachment trial, states that "no person is above the law."
MP Ritchie Torres, also from New York, tweeted, alluding to former mafia boss Al Capone, who ended up behind bars "only" for a tax offense: "Donald Trump is the Al Capone of American politics".
Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a former federal prosecutor, said the judiciary has a duty to follow fact and law wherever they lead. "Former President Trump has the same rights as any other accused and the judiciary will find him innocent until proven guilty."
Trump's eldest son Donald Trump jr. compares the indictment with decisions made by mass-murdering dictators: "These are things that Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot - they would blush. It's so shameless. It's so crazy," says the 45-year-old in a live streamed video shortly after it became known the jury's decision.
Trump's second son, Eric Trump, says: "This is public prosecutor's misconduct like in the third world." In a text to the Associated Press news agency, he described the indictment as an opportunistic crackdown on a political opponent in an election year.
Trump's niece, Mary L. Trump, on the other hand, cheers the indictment: "It's official, Donald Trump is: the first man in the Oval Office to be impeached twice, the first man in the Oval Office to incite a riot, the first who gets two times fewer votes [in the presidential election] and now the first to be indicted," writes the 57-year-old, who has published a tell-all book about her family and accused her uncle of cheating her out of her inheritance. "But the media is missing the most important reason why this is so significant: for Donald's victims, this is finally some measure of justice," she added. "It was a long time coming, but after what Donald has done to this country, we got through it."
Sources: Twitter, CNN, Associated Press, DPA
