In a singularly inglorious moment that even the left has condemned, former President Donald Trump is now reportedly facing a 34-count indictment at the hands of a politically weaponized prosecutor’s office. It’s a mistake of historic proportions.
New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg, like fellow Democrat New York Attorney General Letitia James, campaigned on a promise to “get Trump.” Now, regardless of the merit or lack thereof of an indictment, Americans can be assured that fulfillment of this campaign promise is wholly motivated by partisan politics.
Let’s look at just the facts as we currently know them:
Both the Department of Justice and the former New York County District Attorney’s Office under Cyrus Vance (who’s no friend of Trump) previously declined to prosecute any alleged offense related to the $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Bragg now seeks to revive a long-dead claim against Trump that’s well outside the statute of limitations and any reasonable prosecutorial conduct.
Further, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were only fined for similar alleged campaign finance violations, not prosecuted under legally dubious statutory theories that Bragg is manipulating into a legal pretzel to force into felonies.
I think Bragg knows that the indictment is spurious but also knows that the downside of giving Trump a boost among his MAGA base might be outweighed by the hit to Trump’s finances (defending an indictment is costly) and to the numbers of moderate and independent voters who are already voicing “Trump fatigue.”
It’s a calculation that clearly the Democrats are willing to take. But why wouldn’t they?
Democrats also know that even if this political move against Trump succeeds in pushing him over the line for the Republican nomination for president, his chances in the general election will take a nosedive. And we haven’t even factored in the Fulton County, Georgia, and Washington, D.C., grand juries.
This all comes as the Democrats and Never-Trump establishment, including the Jan. 6 Select Committee, have for the past seven years weaponized every possible institution, agent, and process of government against Trump and anyone associated with him, solely for the crime of daring to win the 2016 election and ousting Clinton from her perceived rightful inheritance. As a former senior adviser and attorney for Trump, I’ve been a target of government weaponization as well. Almost every attorney I know who has worked with Trump in any capacity has incurred harm in one form or another.
The most remarkable thing about this weaponization of government is that it’s not just against Trump. It’s been against the very fabric of American justice and our system of government. It’s against his former attorneys, associates, and a wide swath of supporters and people whose crime is simply being conservative.
For example, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) spoke on my radio show recently about uncovering evidence during a subcommittee hearing on constitutional and civil liberties of the FBI’s collusion with the Biden administration and teachers unions to target concerned parents, labeling them domestic terrorists. On March 31, a Trump supporter was convicted in another political prosecution for sharing memes about Clinton.
This is all beyond reprehensible and fully unconstitutional. But what are Trump and the Republican National Committee doing to mount a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to protect everyone targeted by the weaponization of government, particularly former Trump campaign and administration officials?
Many Republicans in elected office on the federal and state level immediately condemned the politically motivated prosecution of Trump, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, widely believed to be Trump’s top contender for the Republican nomination, although he hasn’t yet announced his candidacy.
DeSantis responded to the possibility of a forthcoming indictment by condemning “Soros-backed” prosecutors and the weaponization of government, promising that his office wouldn’t cooperate or be involved with a politically motivated prosecution. He doubled down on that promise soon after news broke of the indictment, explicitly posting on Twitter that Florida won’t assist with an extradition request.
Trump had a unique opportunity to unify Republicans by working with DeSantis against the real enemy: those who would manipulate the tools of justice for political gain.
This is a moment when all Republicans, conservatives, and anyone who believes in the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution, regardless of party or politics, can and should come together to fight the weaponization of government against Trump and every targeted American on every level.
The Democrats have declared war. We can’t back down or become fractured over politics. I hope that Trump leads the way and does what’s right for the country and for every American citizen rather than just fighting for his own political interests. Otherwise, we’re on the brink of losing our country and, with it, the recognition that our rights come from God—not government—and that government’s sole legitimate purpose is to preserve and protect our rights, not weaponize the power of government against political opponents.
