Donald Trump arrest: Republicans say former president’s charges will lead to political prosecutions

Former President Donald Trump was arraigned in court on Tuesday, facing criminal felony charges, leading many Republicans to fear future political prosecutions.

Republican lawmakers and strategists have criticized the indictment, regarding it as politically-motivated and a misuse of the criminal justice system. They warn that indicting Trump sets a precedent for other political figures, past or present, to stand trial.

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Some opponents compared Trump’s indictment — for which he arrived in New York on Tuesday, relating to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign — to former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998 on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice concerning an affair with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky.

“I think it is a terrible precedent for the country,” said former Rep. Vin Weber (R-MN), now a Republican strategist, speaking with the Hill. “I think it’s bad for America, bad for the Republican Party, and it’s bad for the political system in our country. Once you start down this path, there’s no way you’re going to reverse it. That’s what we saw with impeachment.”

Trump was impeached twice in 2021, making him the first U.S. President to do so. He was first impeached in 2019 due to his involvement with Ukraine, but the Senate acquitted him in 2020. In 2021, House Representatives voted to oust him after the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol, with ten Republicans joining the Democrats.

Democrats counter Republican claims, stating that the law applies to everyone, including a former president. However, some Democrats note that the misconduct leading to Trump’s indictment has been known publicly for five years, and several previous prosecutors declined to proceed.

The prosecutor that charged Trump, Bragg, is the first in history to file charges against a former president, prompting Weber to claim that this will not be the last time prosecutors pursue similar methods.

“We’re going to see political prosecutions brought, some of them for meritorious reasons, some of them to advance the careers of the prosecutors. But all of this is harmful to America and our political process,” Weber said.

Another factor that worries Trump’s supporters is that he was the Republican presidential nominee for the 2024 election, leading to concerns about potential bias. Some Republicans have already begun debates regarding the prosecution of President Joe Biden or his son Hunter Biden after the President exits office.

“I don’t know if that’s likely or not, but we’re going to see something somewhere,” Weber said.

Several Republican lawmakers have voiced concern about the nature of Trump’s indictment, describing it as politically-motivated and potentially undermining the presidency’s institution.

“These charges aren’t about enforcing the law. Democrats barely pretend they are. They are the left telling the nation, we’re in charge here. And if you threaten us, we will destroy you,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tweeted last week.

Former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) called the indictment “extremely dangerous for our democracy.”

“It creates an atmosphere where the courts are being used as a political weapon,” Gregg said. “It undermines, I think, the confidence of the American people in their democracy, in their legal system.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) pointed out the case against Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), which was brought down by a Republican prosecutor in 2008, accused of using $1 million in payments from political donors to support his change. Democrats considered the charges politically-motivated at the time. Cruz also referenced Hillary Clinton’s funding of Steele dossier research, characterizing it as legal payments, suggesting that Bragg is playing politics.

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“It makes [it] obvious this is partisan politics,” he said.