Editorial Cartoon

of justice in America.

But two of Long Island’s four Republican congressmen agreed with McCarthy and Stefanik.

“Every American deserves a fair justice system devoid of any political, racial or religious motivations,” Rep. Nick Laota (R-Amityville) said in a statement.

“To the contrary, the Biden Justice Department’s indictment of a former president who is running against Biden, without … an indictment of their boss who stored classifed material in his Delaware garage, reeks of political retaliation,” Laota said.

Rep. George Santos (R-Nassau/ Queens), who has proclaimed innocence in the face of a 13-count federal indictment for fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false statements, also stood up for Trump.

“Another indictment of President Donald J. Trump will not gaslight the American People into abandoning the greatest champion of freedom this great young nation has ever known.” Santos tweeted on his campaign account.

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park) sidestepped the question with a statement from his spokesman,Matt Capp, that in itself was very revealing.

“While our ofce continues to monitor the situation, Congressman D’Esposito’s focus remains on delivering meaningful tax relief to New Yorkers and fghting for safe streets,” Capp said.

Any fair-minded reading of the indictment – as special counsel Smith advocated in remarks on Friday – would show how ridiculous and dangerous these statements are.

Trump faces 37 felony counts with 31 pertaining to the willful retention of national defense information, — violations of the Espionage Act. The balance relates to alleged conspiracy, obstruction and false statements.

The threat to this nation’s national security cannot be underestimated.

“The classifed documents Trump stored in his boxes included informa- tion regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries, United States nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack,” the indictment said. “The unauthorized disclosure of these classifed documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods.”

The evidence for this is overwhelming. The proof is provided in interviews with Trump’s own lawyers and staf members as well as emails, text messages and phone recordings.

One would think that if D’Esposito – and every other Republican — was really worried about safe streets, he or she would show some concern about Trump illegally keeping records regarding our nuclear and defense capabilities in cardboard boxes in a ball- room, bathroom and personal ofce at the Mar-a-Lago Club as the indictment shows.

The indictment also details how Trump proudly and knowingly shared classifed information with guests who did not possess security clearances, including sharing a military plan for a possible attack against a foreign country.

And the indictment shows how, given the chance to return the documents, Trump ignored repeated requests by the National Archives and Records Administration for more than a year and then attempted to conceal classifed information even while he was required to produce it pursuant to a subpoena.

Trump has since the indictment said he followed the Presidential Records Act perfectly. This is a lie. The frst point on the National Archives and Records Administration website explains that the act “establishes public ownership of all presidential records and defnes the term presidential re- cords.”

A handful of Republicans have spoken in defense of the investigation and subsequent indictment.

“By all appearances, the Justice Department and special counsel have exercised due care, afording Mr. Trump the time and opportunity to avoid charges that would not generally have been aforded to others,” said U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 presidential nominee. “Mr. Trump brought these charges upon himself by not only taking classifed documents, but by refusing to simply return them when given numerous opportunities to do so.”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a GOP presidential candidate for 2024 and a former U.S. attorney, said the details of the federal indictment against Trump are “devastating.”

“The facts that are laid out here are damning in terms of Donald Trump’s conduct, and that’s what I think we as a party should be looking at,” Christie said.

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