Senate GOP leaders break with House on Trump indictment
by Alexander Bolton - 06/11/23 6:00 AM ET
Senate Republican leaders, including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), are staying quiet about former President Trump’s indictment on 37 criminal charges, letting him twist in the wind and breaking with House Republican leaders who have rushed to Trump’s defense.
McConnell, who is careful not to comment on Trump or even repeat his name in public, has said to his GOP colleagues that he wants his party to turn the page on the former president, whom he sees as a flawed general election candidate and a drag on Senate Republican candidates.
The Senate GOP leader’s top deputies — Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) — have also indicated they don’t want Trump to win the party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
They along with McConnell are letting Trump’s legal troubles play out without coming to the former president’s defense, in contrast to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), who both issued statements Thursday criticizing the Justice Department before the indictment was unsealed to the public.
“They want him to go away so they wouldn’t be very upset if this is the thing that finally takes him out,” said a former Senate Republican aide about the Senate Republican leaders’ silence on Trump’s indictment.
Republican senators were more outspoken in defending Trump after liberal Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg unveiled an indictment in early April charging Trump with 34 felony counts related to business records fraud.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4043338-senate-gop-leaders-break-with-house-on-trump-indictment/
