House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and several MAGA Republicans rallied around Donald Trump Saturday ahead of the former president’s possible indictment by a grand jury in Manhattan.
Trump predicted he would be arrested on Tuesday in posts on his social media platform Truth Social and urged supporters to protest, citing “illegal leaks”. Hours later, a spokesman for Trump clarified in a statement that the post was shared beyond media reports from NBC News and other news outlets without notification of any charges.
“Here we are again – a egregious abuse of power by a radical prosecutor who is letting violent criminals free while pursuing political revenge on President Trump,” McCarthy wrote in a tweet.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy at the Capitol in Washington, DC on March 10.abin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images file
“I direct the appropriate committees to immediately investigate whether federal funds are being used to undermine our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated law enforcement,” McCarthy added.
Despite his recent scathing comments slamming Trump over Jan. 6, former Vice President Mike Pence, who is on the verge of a decision on a 2024 presidential nomination, said the potential indictment “smacks of the kind of political persecution that we are dealing with.” had to endure hoax in the days of Russia.”
“That’s what the Manhattan DA’s office says is their top priority?” Pence said on SiriusXM radio on Saturday.
Republicans in Congress, who are closely allied with Trump, a 2024 presidential nominee, have expressed outrage and denounced the impeachment that may be imminent.
Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, called Trump’s possible arrest “un-American” and said Democrats have hit “a dangerous new low.”
“Knowing that they cannot beat President Trump at the ballot box, the Radical Left will now follow the example of socialist dictators and reportedly arrest President Trump,” she said in a opinion shared Twitter, calling him the leading Republican candidate.
Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona tweeted, “If they can come for Trump, they will come for you. That kind of stuff only happens in authoritarian third world nations.”
“Virtually every campaign finance violation involves either 1) spending other people’s money illegally, or 2) injecting money into your campaign that you shouldn’t. Trump didn’t do either.” tweeted Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. “He used his own money to resolve a private dispute, unrelated to any campaign.”
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Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called the allegations against Trump “false” and “outdated.” She tweeted, “Republicans in Congress MUST subpoena these communists and STOP this!”
She wrote in another tweet that “we don’t have to protest,” adding, “These idiots are sealing their own fate in 2024 because the silent majority has two feelings about the current regime right now.” God bless President Trump. Real America knows this is all a sham.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., wrote“God bless President Trump. The real America knows this is all a sham.”
Ohio Senator JD Vance, another Trump ally who has advanced his baseless theories about a stolen 2020 election, criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, saying he will “prosecute” Trump while “violent criminals” roam through New York City.
While the timing is unclear at this time, the former president could soon face possible indictments in the state related to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
NBC News reported Friday that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are preparing for the possible indictment as early as next week.
Trump’s former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen is a key witness in the case. He testified before the grand jury this week after pleading guilty in 2018 to making an illegal payment to Daniels on Trump’s direction for the “primary purpose” of interfering with the 2016 election.
Trump said he repaid the $130,000 to Cohan but insisted what he did was legal. The former president has denied any wrongdoing.
A spokesman for Bragg’s office declined to comment on Trump’s Truth Social posts.