McCarthy Vows to Hold Manhattan DA Accountable for ‘Unprecedented Abuse of Power’

The indictment of former President Donald Trump has been fiercely opposed by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who has promised to hold Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accountable for his actions.

A New York grand jury indicted Trump on March 30th, accusing him of being involved in the payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign. With this prosecution, Trump became the first former president in history to be indicted.

In a Twitter post, McCarthy said, “Alvin Bragg has irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere with our Presidential election. As he routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public, he weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump. The American people will not tolerate this injustice, and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account.”

The House GOP lawmakers have launched an investigation into Bragg and his office regarding the Trump investigation, which Bragg has characterized as congressional overreach.

Although Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who has been absent from the Senate due to a fall at a GOP event in Washington a couple of weeks ago, have yet to react, other members of the GOP congressional leadership have expressed outrage over the indictment.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said on Twitter, “The sham New York indictment of President Donald Trump is one of the clearest examples of extremist Democrats weaponizing government to attack their political opponents. Outrageous.”

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said in a Twitter post, “It’s a sad state of affairs when socialist DA’s would rather pursue a politically motivated witch hunt against President Donald Trump than crack down on violent crime. The American people won’t forget.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, said in a statement, “The unprecedented election interference from corrupt Socialist District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a political witch-hunt and a dark day for America. The radical Far Left will stop at nothing to persecute Joe Biden’s chief political opponent ahead of the 2024 presidential election to suppress the will and voice of the American people.” Stefanik is the only member of GOP congressional leadership to have endorsed Trump’s candidacy so far.

Trump responded to the indictment, describing it as “political persecution” and a “witch-hunt that will backfire.”

Other Republicans were quick to condemn the criminal case. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) tweeted, “Tonight’s indictment of Donald Trump isn’t about the law. It’s about power. Raw power. It’s the Democrat Party telling the nation they will stop at nothing to control the outcome of the next presidential election. It is an assault on our democracy, pure and simple.” Rep. Barry Moore even joked about handing out ham sandwiches since “the Manhattan DA could indict a ham sandwich next” in a tweet.