GOP, GOP voters on trial in Trump case

The 37-count indictment handed up against former President Donald Trump last week ofers a test of whether Republican ofcials and voters in Nassau County, New York State and the nation believe in a founding principle of the United States – the rule of law.

So far the results have not been good.

With few exceptions, Republican leaders in Congress have ignored the overwhelming evidence presented by a grand jury and attacked special counsel Jack Smith. Attorney General Merrick Garland, the FBI, the Justice Department and President Biden.

A small group of prominent Republican leaders have condemned Trump after the indictment and called for the legal process to play out unfettered by politics.

But most others have supported Trump and even threatened retaliation.

“Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. It is unconscionable for a president to indict the leading candidate opposing him,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said. “Joe Biden kept classifed documents for decades. I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice. House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable.”

Closer to home, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who represents a large portion of New York’s North Country and is the No. 3 ranking Republican in the House, also charged that the indictment was politically motivated.

“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,” Stefanik said.

This is entirely backward. The investigation was legal, sanctioned by judges appointed by Trump. To not indict would have been the politicization