House Republicans are rallying behind Trump and adopting his false impeachment narrative
Top House Republicans intensified their attacks on President Biden and the Justice Department on Friday following the federal indictment of former President Donald J. Trump, which falsely suggested that Mr. Biden, not a grand jury made up of US citizens, had charged him with crimes as part of a political vendetta.
It was the last time senior Republicans in Congress closed ranks behind the former president and helped spread baseless accusations against the administration, undermining public confidence in the rule of law and sparking intense grassroots anger against the national institutions.
“Let’s be clear about what’s going on: Joe Biden is arming his Justice Department against his own political rival,” said Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican. “This sham indictment is the continuation of the endless political persecution of Donald Trump.”
Mr Scalise’s remarks followed those of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who vowed to “call to account this brutal weaponization of power”.
“It is unconscionable for a president to sue the leading candidate who opposes him,” Mr McCarthy wrote on Twitter Thursday evening, adding: “I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this serious injustice. .”
The Justice Department has gone to great lengths to distance the White House from its work, appointing two special counsel to review both Mr Trump’s and Mr Biden’s handling of classified documents in an effort to insulate investigations from allegations of political influence. White House officials said Mr. Biden learned of the allegations against Mr. Trump at the same time as the rest of the public.
But House Republican leaders have aligned themselves closely with Mr. Trump for years and are under more intense pressure than ever from their right flank to defend him as they struggle to hold together a governing majority in the House.
New York Representative Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 GOP leader, suggested the charges, brought by a special counsel who spent months investigating Trump’s dealings with classified documents, were timed to distract from the Republicans’ investigation from the House to Mr. Trump. Biden’s family.
“The exact same day the FBI is forced to turn over to Congress absolutely damning and credible allegations of Joe Biden’s illegal, flagrant and treacherous corruption, Joe Biden is arming his Justice Department to indict Donald Trump,” Ms. Stefanik said on Friday. . .
She referred to a document containing an unsubstantiated, years-old allegation of bribery against Mr Biden that was investigated and deemed unworthy of further investigation by Mr Trump’s Justice Department.
House Republicans have expressed outrage since the indictment was announced Thursday night, vowing to use their majority in Congress to fight the Justice Department.
“WITCH HUNT,” was posted on the Twitter account of the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee within minutes of news of the indictment going public.
The chairman of that panel, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, has used his cane to try and pressure the Justice Department over what he considers unfair treatment of Mr. Trump. Mr. Jordan sent one this week letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland to demand unredacted documents related to the investigation of Special Counsel, Jack Smith.
Members of Congress do not have the power to stop criminal charges, but they can try to obstruct prosecutors through their legislative powers, such as issuing subpoenas, requiring witnesses or documents, limiting funding for the Justice Department and using their bureaus’ platform to publicly try to influence the case.
They can also set the tone for how their constituents view the prosecution of the former president and current Republican presidential nominee, an unprecedented phenomenon in American history.
One member of Congress, Louisiana Republican Representative Clay Higgins, hinted at a major backlash, in a cryptic tweet that appeared to refer to Mr. Trump as the real US president — “rPOTUS,” an acronym sometimes used by his supporters is used for “real president of the United States” – referred to the scale used in military maps, and told his followers to tie themselves up.
Senate GOP leaders have struck a different note, with the top two Senate Republicans remaining silent after the indictment.
Utah Senator Mitt Romney, the former presidential nominee of his party and a leading critic of Trump, condemned the former president’s conduct.
“Mr. Trump has brought these accusations on himself by not only taking classified documents with him, but simply refusing to return them when given countless opportunities,” Mr. Romney said in a statement.