House

Trump indictment fuels GOP anger over DOJ ‘weaponization’

by Mychael Schnell - 06/12/23 6:00 AM ET

News that former President Trump has been indicted by the Justice Department is fueling Republican attacks that the federal government is weaponized, giving GOP lawmakers more ammo in their months-long crusade against the Biden administration.

In the eyes of Trump’s staunchest allies on Capitol Hill, the indictment of President Biden’s chief political opponent — the result of the investigation into his handling of classified documents — is the ultimate piece of evidence that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been politicized. And they are vowing to hold it accountable.

“The American people are smart and understand this is the epitome of the illegal and unprecedented weaponization of the federal government against Joe Biden’s leading opponent, President Donald J. Trump,” House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) said late Thursday.

In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said the indictment of Trump “is going to disrupt the nation because it goes to the core of equal justice for all which is not being seen today.”

“A sitting president arresting his political opponent is the ultimate weaponization of government,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wrote on Twitter, while Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) mounted a call to action: “We ought to defund and dismantle the DOJ.”

“I stand with President Trump,” he added.

More Trump indictment coverage from The Hill

Trump announced his indictment in a Truth Social post Thursday night, rocking the political world and sending his congressional supporters to his defense on social media and television airwaves. Less than 24 hours later, the DOJ unsealed a 37-count indictment accusing the former president of mishandling records at his Mar-a-Lago residence and working to block authorities from retrieving them.

According to prosecutors, Trump had documents pertaining to defense and weapons capabilities of the U.S. and foreign countries, U.S. nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the U.S. and allies to military attack and plans for potential retaliation to a foreign attack. He is scheduled to appear in court in Miami on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Trump’s longtime aide Walt Nauta was also charged in the indictment on allegations that he moved documents to conceal them and lied to authorities about his actions.

Thursday’s indictment is Trump’s second in less than three months — a grand jury empaneled by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) charged the former president with 34 felony counts in March for his alleged participation in a hush money scheme involving adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump pleaded not guilty.

This week’s indictment, however, marks the first time a former president will face federal charges. And the case — the mishandling of classified documents — had Republicans immediately jumping to compare Trump with Biden, who is also the subject of an investigation into classified records found in his possession.

The Trump and Biden probes bear significant differences: Trump is accused of obstructing attempts by authorities to regain the documents, including asking his attorneys to lie about their existence or destroy them, while Biden’s attorneys alerted authorities when records were discovered then handed them over.

But Republicans are still connecting the two.

The fact that special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed to oversee the Trump probe, reached a charging conclusion before Biden special counsel Robert Hur — Smith was placed on the Trump case in November, Hur was appointed to Biden’s probe in January — marks another bullet point in Republicans’ argument against the federal government.

“Based on the FBI and DOJ’s documented and verified history of biased and dishonest actions taken against President Trump in the past, I am suspicious of Trump’s indictment, especially since the DOJ is not indicting President Biden for taking and storing classified information in multiple locations,” Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) said on Twitter before the indictment was unsealed.

McCarthy also pointed to the ongoing Biden case when railing against the Trump indictment.

“This is a very dark day in America,” McCarthy told Fox News on Friday. “When you think about what they’re trying to indict President Trump on, you’ve got a sitting president right now in the exact same situation.”

“In America, some of our greatest strength is equal justice,” he added,” and today it shows that it is not.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence was also under investigation for his handling of classified documents after some sensitive records were found at his home, but the DOJ determined that it will not bring charges against him.

Smith, for his part, defended his work.

“Adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the Department of Justice. And our nation’s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world. We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone,” Smith said Friday. “Applying those laws, collecting facts, that’s what determines the outcome of an investigation. Nothing more, nothing less.”

The outrage from Republicans will likely translate into oversight action from the House GOP conference, which controls the lower chamber and, subsequently, wields the gavels of powerful congressional committees.

McCarthy on Thursday said the House GOP conference “will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable,” and he told Fox News Friday that he spoke with Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) about “things that we can do to make sure equal justice.”

Jordan has been looking into the investigation of Trump’s documents case for months. After the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago as part of the probe in August, Jordan asked the White House, DOJ and FBI to preserve and produce documents related to the decision to raid the premises. And when reports surfaced that Smith may be nearing the end of his investigation, Jordan sent Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter asking that he turn over information about Smith’s probe, specifically its use of FBI personnel, and days later, he requested a memo that formalized Smith’s appointment and his investigatory role.

On Friday, Jordan revealed in a new letter to Garland that the Judiciary Committee days earlier conducted a transcribed interview with a former FBI employee who was involved with the search of Mar-a-Lago. He said the employee, Steven D’Antuono, “expressed strong concerns with the Department’s pursuit of the raid and noted several unusual features in the Department’s handling of the case.”

“Additional information recently obtained by the Committee about the Department’s execution of a search warrant on President Trump’s residence only reinforces our grave concerns that your reported actions are nothing more than a politically motivated prosecution,” Jordan wrote.

Republicans were also quick to point out that news of the indictment came the same day that members of the House Oversight Committee were granted access to view a document detailing an unverified tip that, according to GOP lawmakers, contains allegations that then-Vice President Biden accepted a bribe — a claim the White House denies.

The opportunity to view the document was a significant development for Republicans on the committee, who were planning to stage a vote on holding FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt over the agency’s initial refusal to share the record with the entire committee. Emerging from a secure room in the Capitol after viewing the document on Thursday, Republicans on the panel sounded the alarm, arguing that the document supplemented their allegations.

Some of those same GOP lawmakers are now saying that the timing of Trump’s indictment was not an accident.

“It’s no coincidence that on the same day @GOPOversight forced the FBI and Director Wray to hand over form FD-1023, which directly implicates Joe Biden in a foreign bribery pay-to-play scheme, President Trump is indicted for the Boxes Hoax by the Department of Injustice,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who sits on the panel and viewed the document, wrote on Twitter Friday morning.

“The DOJ indicting President Trump the same day House Oversight Members (to include me) saw documentation from the FBI stating that BIDEN AND his SON each received a wire transfer of $5 million from a foreign actor is not by accident,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said in a tweet Thursday evening.

Tags Joe Biden Kevin McCarthy Thomas Massie