Republicans took to the airwaves Sunday to defend former President Donald Trump within the wake of his 37-count indictment on expenses of mishandling labeled paperwork after he left workplace.
Conservative lawmakers made the case that the felony expenses from a Florida grand jury, which accuse him of getting extremely delicate supplies at his Mar-a-Lago resort and refusing to return them, was politically motivated as a result of he’s searching for one other time period within the White House.
“I think Donald Trump is stronger today politically than he was before,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, stated on ABC’s “This Week.” “I promise you this, most Americans believe — most Republicans believe — that the law is used as a weapon against Donald Trump.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan referred to as the fees “as political as it gets.”
“Frankly, it’s part of a pattern,” the Ohio Republican stated on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We’ve seen it time and time again with the president over the last seven years. They try one thing then they try another. They’ve continued to go after him, and I think anyone with common sense can see that.”
Mr. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and argues that he declassified the supplies previous to leaving the White House.
The indictment says that’s not true, citing an audio recording as proof the place he admitted they had been nonetheless labeled.
He stated Sunday that nothing will make him drop out of the presidential race.
“I see no case in which I would do that. I just wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t do it,” Mr. Trump stated on Roger Stone’s new radio present, “The Roger Stone Show.” “I had opportunities in 2016 to do it. And I didn’t do it.”
He’s set to seem in a south Florida courtroom for the primary time within the case on Tuesday.
House Republicans specifically have been fast to defend Mr. Trump whereas others within the GOP, together with Senate Republican chief Mitch McConnell, have but to interrupt their silence.
Even one in all his Republican main challengers, Vivek Ramaswamy, doubled down on his promise to pardon Mr. Trump ought to he win the 2024 election and Mr. Trump be convicted.
“Reading that indictment and looking at the selective omissions of both fact and law, I’m even more convinced that a pardon is the right answer here,” the conservative entrepreneur stated on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “What I see in that document is deeply politicized.”
Mr. Trump’s first indictment got here in March by a Manhattan grand jury, accusing him of campaign-finance violations associated to hush-money funds to ladies to protect extramarital affairs earlier than the 2016 election.
Despite the most recent spherical of legal expenses, voters point out they’re unlikely to alter their opinion of Mr. Trump.
Nearly half of U.S. voters say the labeled paperwork indictment is politically motivated, however roughly the identical proportion additionally say the previous president ought to have been charged, based on an ABC News/Ipsos ballot launched Sunday.
A separate ballot from CBS News/YouGov launched Sunday confirmed 61% of voters stated the indictment wouldn’t change their notion of Mr. Trump, 14% stated it improves their opinion of him, 7% stated it makes it worse and 18% had been not sure.
The CBS survey additionally confirmed Mr. Trump continues to dominate the more and more crowded 2024 Republican main discipline, with 61% help, adopted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as his nearest competitor, with 23% help.
South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, a frequent critic of Mr. Trump and others within the GOP, additionally got here to Mr. Trump’s protection.
She questioned the timing of the fees, which got here on the identical day as lawmakers gained entry to an FBI doc they are saying reveals President Biden and his household engaged in a pay-to-play scheme when he was vp.
“Whether you agree with Donald Trump politically or not, most Americans see this for what it is. It’s weaponizing the Executive Branch to take out your political enemies,” Ms. Mace stated on “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo.”
“Joe Biden wants to give Donald Trump a death sentence for documents,” he stated.
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