How Republicans, Democrats Are Responding Ahead of a Possible Trump Jan. 6 Indictment

Former President Donald Trump attends UFC 290 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 8, 2023. Steve Marcus/Getty Images

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are preparing for news that former President Donald Trump could be criminally charged in connection with the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

On July 18, Mr. Trump announced he had received a notice from special counsel Jack Smith, informing him that he is the target of an investigation into the breach at the Capitol. Mr. Trump said his legal team was given a four-day window to report to a grand jury, a move he said “almost always means an Arrest and Indictment” is coming.

Mr. Trump was criminally charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in April on allegations he illegally falsified business records to conceal a non-disclosure agreement he arranged with adult performer Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels.

In June, the special counsel criminally charged Mr. Trump again, this time in federal court, alleging he mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House and obstructed efforts to retrieve those documents.

It remains to be seen what charge, if any, the special counsel may bring in relation to the breach at the Capitol more than two and a half years ago. As president, Mr. Trump had called on supporters to rally in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6 as he raised objections to the certification of the 2020 election results. As Mr. Trump spoke at the Ellipse, some of the gathered crowds began moving over to the Capitol. Some people entered the building while some clashed with Capitol Police, disrupting congressional proceedings.

In a post on his Truth social media account on Thursday, Mr. Trump announced that his lawyers met with the special counsel. He characterized the meeting as productive, with his attorneys “explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country.”

Trump’s Defenders Allege Politicization

Mr. Trump’s defenders in the Republican Party have primarily described efforts to charge him as politically motivated. The same held true on Thursday amid anticipation of a third indictment.

“It’s absolutely absurd,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) told NTD News. “It’s politically motivated for sure. And, you know, the effort is real. If it wasn’t so real and serious, what they were trying to do and impact our election as well as attack Donald Trump and his supporters, you would say this is laughable, but it isn’t laughable. It’s grossly serious, the abuse of power.”

Rep. Jody Arrington (R-Texas) similarly said the idea of trying to indict the former president over the events on Jan. 6, 2021, is “bunk, just like most of the allegations that had been made about our former president.”

“We’ve seen impeachment weaponized, we’ve seen judicial hearings for the Supreme Court weaponized. I mean, we’re getting to a place where we’re closer to a banana republic than the constitutional republic that our founders envisioned,” Mr. Arrington added in comments to NTD News on Thursday.

The criminal charges have come as Mr. Trump has consistently led the 2024 Republican presidential primary field. The former president has cast the prior criminal indictments as efforts to interfere in the election process, but he has also seen his primary poll numbers rise since the Manhattan indictment and the subsequent charges in the classified documents case.

Mr. Arrington touted Mr. Trump’s polling as an indication that the voting public has not been convinced that the former president did anything wrong.

“I think he'll be vindicated,” Mr. Arrington said. “And, you know, you see the polls, it’s not affecting the American people, I think are seeing through this.”

‘Let the Justice System Proceed’: Democrat Congresswoman

Democrats have consistently defended the various indictments of Mr. Trump. Amid the mounting criminal charges, several Democratic lawmakers have repeated the refrain that prosecuting him demonstrates that “no one is above the law.”

Democrats have also insisted that Mr. Trump is being treated fairly and will continue to have the chance to defend himself against the charges he faces.

“Let me just say, let the justice system proceed,” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) told NTD News on Thursday. “And no indictment comes without facts and without prosecutors having to press their case. I am a true believer in the Constitution and due process. Mr. Trump will have his opportunity through the courts to have due process and he should have it.”

She added that the legal process ought to proceed “without comment or intervention of any of us in the United States Congress.”

From NTD News