House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and several MAGA Republicans gathered around Donald Trump on Saturday ahead of the potential indictment of the former president by a Manhattan grand jury.
Trump predicted in posts on his social media platform Truth Social that he would be arrested Tuesday and called on supporters to protest, citing “illegal leaks”. Hours later, a Trump spokesman clarified in a statement that the post was shared without any notice of an indictment outside of media reports from NBC News and other news outlets.
“Here we go again — an outrageous abuse of power by a radical prosecutor who lets violent criminals go free while pursuing political revenge against President Trump,” McCarthy wrote in a statement. tweet.
“I am directing relevant committees to immediately investigate whether federal funds are being used to undermine our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions,” McCarthy added.
Despite his recent strong remarks about Trump on Jan. 6, former Vice President Mike Pence, who is nearing a decision on a 2024 presidential bid, said the potential indictment “smacks of the kind of political persecution we endured in the days of the Russian hoax.”
“This is what the Manhattan DA says is their top priority?” Pence said Saturday on SiriusXM radio.
Congressional Republicans closely associated with Trump, a 2024 presidential candidate, expressed outrage and denounced the potentially threatening charge.
Rep. New York’s Elise Stefanik, the third Republican in the House, called Trump’s possible arrest “unAmerican” and said Democrats have reached “a dangerous new low.”
“Knowing that they cannot beat President Trump at the polls, the radical left will now follow the lead of socialist dictators and allegedly arrest President Trump,” she said in a statement. rack shared on Twitter, calling him the leading Republican nominee.
Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona tweeted, “If they can come for Trump, they will come for you. This kind of thing only happens in authoritarian countries in the developing world.”
“Virtually every campaign finance violation involves 1) illegally spending someone else’s money or 2) injecting money into your campaign that you shouldn’t be using. Trump did neither’ tweeted Representative Matt Gaetz from Florida. “He used his own money to resolve a private dispute, regardless of any campaign.”
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene characterized the accusations against Trump as “fake” and “outdated.” She tweeted, “Republicans in Congress MUST subpoena these communists and put an end to this!”
She wrote in another tweet that “we don’t need to protest,” adding, “These idiots will seal 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.
Jim Jordan, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, R-Ohio., wrote“God bless President Trump. Real America knows this is all a sham.”
Ohio Senator JD Vance, another Trump ally who has advanced his baseless theories about a stolen election in 2020, criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, saying he will “prosecute” Trump while “violent criminals” continue to roaming New York City.
While the timing is currently unclear, the former president could soon face possible charges in the state in connection with a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
NBC News reported on Friday that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are preparing for possible charges as early as next week.
Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is a star witness in the case. He testified before the grand jury this week after pleading guilty in 2018 to making an illegal payment to Daniels at Trump’s direction for the “primary purpose” of influencing the 2016 election.
Trump said he repaid Cohan the $130,000 but insisted what he was doing was legal. The former president denies any allegations.
A spokesman for Bragg’s office declined to comment on Trump’s Truth Social posts.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
