Published June 5, 2024
WASHINGTON – Republican lawmakers are seeking revenge for the historic conviction of former President Donald Trump in a New York hush money case, which they’re calling a miscarriage of justice and a pointed political maneuver.
In the Senate, a cohort of conservative lawmakers are pledging to stop all Democratic priorities and block Biden administration nominees from approval.
And in the GOP-led House, lawmakers plan to interrogate the Manhattan prosecutors that sought the conviction, strip federal funding from the state of New York, and defund the efforts of special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing Trump’s classified documents case.
Their efforts may not be successful – the House’s pushes are sure to face a dead end in the Democratically-controlled Senate, for example – but it reflects the party’s continued loyalty to Trump and the political opportunity they see to rally support for his reelection bid.
On the campaign trail, they’re using the conviction to their advantage. The GOP’s donor platform, WinRed, was overwhelmed with traffic in the wake of the ruling, and both the Senate and House GOP campaign arms have reported a surge in fundraising.
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Candidates in competitive states are also already pushing messages that their Democratic competitors refuse to condemn the ruling, including new advertisements from GOP senate candidates in Montana and Ohio alleging their opponent supports a judicial strategy to interfere in the presidential election.
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SOURCE: www.usatoday.com
RELATED: Trump suggests political opponents could face prosecution
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Trump Tower, Friday, May 31, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)
Published June 5, 2024
Former President Trump suggested Tuesday that it was “very possible” Democrats could face prosecution down the road following his own historic conviction in the New York criminal hush money trial.
Trump, in an interview with Newsmax, floated the idea that his prosecution could open the door to political opponents being targeted, echoing comments he has made ever since he was charged with dozens of criminal counts across multiple jurisdictions.
“Does that mean the next president does it to them? That’s really the question,” Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for November, said in the interview, highlighted by Mediaite.
“And wouldn’t it be really bad like, as an example, Hillary with the hammering of her cellphones and all of the things she did, but wouldn’t it be terrible to throw the president’s wife and the former secretary of state — you think of it, the former secretary of state, but the president, the president’s wife, into jail?” he continued. “Wouldn’t that be a terrible thing? But they want to do it. So, you know, it’s like it’s, it’s a terrible, terrible path that they’re leading us to. And it’s very possible that it’s gonna have to happen to them.”
Trump last week was found guilty on 34 felony counts in his New York criminal trial over falsifying business records related to a hush money scheme during the 2016 campaign. He has said he plans to appeal the decision.
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SOURCE: www.thehill.com
RELATED: Donald Trump suggests his political opponents may face prosecution if he’s elected president
Trump became the first former US president to be criminally convicted after a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to commit election fraud.
Published June 5, 2024
Donald Trump has claimed “it’s very possible” that his political opponents may face prosecution after he became the first former US president to be criminally convicted.
Trump seemed to raise the prospect of it happening if he became president again during an interview with conservative US outlet Newsmax.
The 77-year-old said: “It’s a terrible precedent for our country. Does that mean the next president does it to them? That’s really the question.”
He added: “So, you know, it’s a terrible, terrible path that they’re leading us to, and it’s very possible that it’s going to have to happen to them.”
Trump was found guilty last week of falsifying business records in a five-week trial in New York.
The former president covered up a $130,000 (£102,000) payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels as part of a “hush money” scheme to bury stories he thought might hurt his presidential campaign in 2016.
He repeatedly made unfounded claims over the criminal proceedings, alleging without evidence that they were rigged against him before the jury found him unanimously guilty of all 34 counts he faced.
