Epoch Times by Joseph Lord 4/4/2023
Republican lawmakers on April 4 reacted to the unveiling of 34 felony charges against former President Donald Trump with condemnation, with one Congresswoman calling the move “unprecedented and chilling.”
At an arraignment hearing in Manhattan, 34 class E felony charges, the least serious type of felony in New York state, were announced against Trump for allegedly falsifying business records. Trump, appearing somber and stoic during the court appearance, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The 34 charges come as part of Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg’s investigation into a hush money payment to adult entertainment actress Stormy Daniels in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels claims she and the former president had an affair in 2006—claims Trump has denied.
According to court documents, prosecutors allege that Trump directed his then-attorney Michael Cohen to pay Daniels $130,000 to keep her from going public about the alleged affair, which he later illegally reimbursed to Cohen as routine legal expenses, in violation of campaign finance laws.
“The People of the State of New York allege that Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” Bragg said in a statement.
Republicans have been quick to discredit Cohen, noting the attorney’s virulent dislike of Trump. Bragg’s investigation has been blasted by Republicans as politically motivated.
Permanently Changes Politics ForeverSen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a key Trump rival in 2016, denounced the arraignment, saying, “It will permanently change politics in America forever.”
“Today is a bad day for all of us & we are going to regret it for a very long time,” Rubio wrote in a caption posted with a video on Twitter.
“Today, American politics crosses a line that it’s never going to come back from,” Rubio said. “After today, especially on the basis of how ridiculous these charges are.”
Specifically, Rubio said that the case gives a green light to other prosecutors on both the left and right to target their political enemies.
“What’s going to stop them? Nothing’s going to stop them. Because today we set a new normal,” Rubio said. “Today, we set the new normal that if you really want to take someone down, nothing should stop you. You should be able to manipulate the law any way you want to charge someone.”
More:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/unprecedented-and-chilling-gop-lawmakers-react-to-trumps-felony-charges_5170926.html
