Many republicans They speak out against the accusation of the former president donald trump – including some of his most vocal critics — but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is not among them.
The notoriously taciturn Republican leader and his top aides are silent nearly a week after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced an unprecedented criminal indictment against a former president.
trump is loaded with 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal secret money payments to a porn star ahead of the 2016 presidential election, which prosecutors said was part of an illegal “scheme” to mislead voters. She pleaded not guilty in a dramatic court appearance Tuesday.
Trump allies have dismissed the accusation as politically motivated and questioned the legal theory behind the case. Even Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), one of Trump’s biggest Republican critics who doesn’t believe he belongs in public office, saying Bragg “has stretched to come up with felony criminal charges to fit a political agenda.”
“The prosecutor’s overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public’s faith in our justice system,” Romney added.
Bragg stated that the underlying crimes that the false business records were intended to conceal included violations of state and federal election laws and further illegal misrepresentation related to business and tax laws. His case faces several potential dangers, however.
Although McConnell has yet to weigh in on the allegation, he has not gone completely silent. On Tuesday, just as Trump was about to turn himself in to police for his arraignment in a New York City courthouse, the Kentucky Republican issued a statement in the other big news this week, applauding Finland’s accession to NATO after Russia’s bloody war in Ukraine.
McConnell typically avoids commenting on any news involving the former president without being asked first. Congress is currently in a two-week recess, and McConnell is still reeling from a bad slump last month.
Last year McConnell took an implied dig to Trump when he said “anyone” would have a “hard time” becoming president if they believe parts of the US Constitution should be struck down over false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. criticized foxnews in March for its misleading coverage of the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol, in a bizarre rebuke of Trump and the leading conservative cable network.
After voting not to convict Trump in his second Senate impeachment trial, McConnell delivered a searing speech calling him “morally responsible” for the Jan. 6 attack on Congress and suggesting the former president could still face prosecution. penalty for his acts.
“President Trump is still responsible for everything he did while in office, as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has expired, he is still responsible for everything he did while in office, he didn’t get away with yours still, still.” McConnell said at the time.
“We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held to account by either,” he added.
In another legal setback for Trump, a federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked his attempt to prevent former top aides from testifying about him before a federal grand jury investigating Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost. Some legal experts believe that case, as well as another involving Trump’s handling of classified information, presents a far more dangerous threat to Trump’s freedom than the New York secret money case.
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