“Now the threat is that this occurs not only in this instance but occurs to any other Republican or Democrat,” Mississippi Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann warned in an April 5 interview with NTD News, The Epoch Times’ sister outlet.
“This is a bad precedent for the country, and I’m real hopeful that it’ll be dismissed by the judiciary at an early level,” he added.
The indictment, which was unsealed on April 4 following the former president’s arraignment, revealed 34 felony counts relating to an alleged hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election cycle.
Hosemann, who used to draft nondisclosure agreements as an attorney, noted that the practice is “very legal” and that he thought the charges against Trump were “totally erroneous.”
“I think it’s a political event, and not something that we should either be supporting or proud of in our country,” the lieutenant governor said.
“And I’ve been really pleased to see all wings of the Republican Party come out and say, ‘This is a witch hunt, and this never should have occurred to the president.’
“I think it’s unified our party a lot by seeing how egregious the step was.”
Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, another Republican, shared Hosemann’s concerns regarding the repercussions of what he considered to be a politically motivated attack on Trump.
“Whenever you weaponize or do things for political reasons, whatever it is, it sets a bad precedent,” he said, noting that he had worked with many Democrats over the years to get things done.
“This political punishment has got to stop in our country,” he added. “We’ve got to come together and work at fixing our problems, and we’ll never do it as long as we weaponize the court systems or anything for political payback or punishment.”
Legal Foundation
Prior to the unsealing of the indictment, leaks to the press revealed that Trump would be facing more than 30 felony counts of falsification of business records.Upon the full indictment’s release, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg asserted that Trump had “lied again and again” to circumvent the law.
“That is exactly what this case is about—34 false statements made to cover up other crimes.
“These are felony crimes in New York state, no matter who you are,” he added. “We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct.”
“I think this is even weaker than I feared it would be.”
The Yale Law School graduate, whom Trump fired in 2019, said he worried the case could “easily” be dismissed before it goes to trial.
Notably absent from the indictment was the basis for elevating the falsification of business records charges—a misdemeanor under New York law—to the felony level.
McCabe led the FBI’s investigation into false allegations Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election.
Political Motivations
According to an April 2 ABC News/Ipsos poll, a plurality of Americans (47 percent)—including 79 percent of Republicans—believe the charges against Trump to be politically motivated.“And, more than just the momentum that President Trump has, they’re trying to distract us from the lack of momentum, or the slide, in the Biden camp.”
But if the goal was to keep Trump out of the White House, the case would appear to be having the opposite effect.
On Feb. 15, Rasmussen showed Biden narrowly leading Trump 45-42 percent.
“Incredibly, we are now a failing nation,” he said. “We are a nation in decline, and now these radical left lunatics want to interfere with our elections by using law enforcement. We can’t let that happen.
“With all of this being said, and with a very dark cloud over our beloved country, I have no doubt nevertheless that we will Make America Great Again.”
