Former US Vice President Mike Pence has sharply criticized the indictment against ex-President Donald Trump in New York. “I think it’s a scandal,” Pence told CNN on Thursday evening (local time). “This will only serve to further divide this country.”
The unprecedented indictment of a former US president in a campaign finance matter is scandalous, said Pence, who served as Trump’s deputy from 2017 to 2021. Millions of Americans are under the impression that this is nothing more than a political indictment.
For a Manhattan prosecutor to target a particular American in the middle of an election campaign goes against the idea of the majority of Americans who believe in justice and equal treatment before the law. The actions of the Manhattan Attorney’s Office send a terrible message about the American justice system.
No one is above the law, not even ex-presidents, Pence stressed. But in this case, which involves campaign financing, this unprecedented charge should never have come about. “This is a bad decision by a political prosecutor.”
Leading US Republicans condemn charges
Other leading US Republicans also strongly condemned the charges. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused the Manhattan Attorney General on Thursday (local time) of “irreparably damaging our country in an attempt to interfere in our presidential election.”
Prosecutor Alvin Bragg, a member of President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party, used “our venerable judicial system” as a weapon against Trump, McCarthy said on Twitter. “The American people will not tolerate this injustice and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg accountable for his unprecedented abuse of power.”
Republican governor of the state of Florida and potential presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said the legal system had been used as a weapon to advance a “political agenda”. “It’s un-American,” Trump’s intra-party rival wrote on Twitter. If the New York judiciary files an extradition request for Florida-based Trump, Florida will not provide support.
Democrat Schiff to Trump: Hold the powerful accountable too
Democrat Adam Schiff called the crackdown on Trump “unprecedented.” “But that also applies to the illegal behavior in which Trump was involved,” wrote the US MP on Twitter on Thursday (local time).
“The rich and powerful” must also be held accountable – even if they hold high office. Anything else is not democracy. Schiff led the prosecution team in Trump’s first impeachment trial. Trump regularly insults the Democrat.
Trump’s ex-lawyer Cohen: Nobody is above the law
For Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, the indictment of the former US President is “just the beginning”. Now you have to let the indictment speak for itself, said Cohen on Thursday in a statement that was available to US media. “However, I take comfort in the fact that the adage is true that no one is above the law, not even a former president,” Cohen said. He stands by his statement in the case.
Cohen has since renounced his former client. According to his own statements, in 2016 he paid hush money to the porn actress Stormy Daniels on behalf of Trump in order to avert damage from his boss in the presidential election campaign. Trump and his lawyers concede payment but deny Trump had anything to do with the actress.
Background to the indictment
Trump is the first ex-president in US history to face criminal charges. This was announced by the district attorney’s office in Manhattan on Thursday evening. The exact charges and details are still unclear. The case is about hush money payments to a porn actress – and a possible conflict with campaign financing rules. Trump, who is running for his party’s presidential nomination in the November 2024 election, spoke of “political persecution and electoral interference at the highest level in history”.
Pence is also said to have ambitions for a presidential bid. The Republican said his decision has not yet been made. When asked whether Trump should drop out of the presidential race if convicted, Pence replied that there is a long way to go before the question even arises. If it should come to that, he will then answer the question. (agency material)
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