How US Lawmakers Reacted to Donald Trump’s Historic Arraignment

Several US lawmakers, including both allies and critics of former President Donald Trump, have issued statements after his historic arraignment that was played out live by worldwide news outlets on Tuesday.

Trump pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree after hearing charges against him stemming from a hush-money case involving adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Here’s how lawmakers are reacting:

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of weaponization of the federal justice process.

“Alvin Bragg is attempting to interfere in our democratic process by invoking federal law to bring politicized charges against President Trump, admittedly using federal funds, while at the same time arguing that the peoples’ representatives in Congress lack jurisdiction to investigate this farce. Not so. Bragg’s weaponization of the federal justice process will be held accountable by Congress,” McCarthy tweeted.

Senior Republican leader Mitt Romney slammed what he called Manhattan District Bragg’s overreach, and said it sets a “dangerous precedent.”

“I believe President Trump’s character and conduct make him unfit for office,” Romney said in a statement. “Even so, I believe the New York prosecutor has stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda. No one is above the law, not even former presidents, but everyone is entitled to equal treatment under the law. The prosecutor’s overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public’s faith in our justice system.”

Representative Adam Schiff described Trump’s arraignment as a “somber moment in the life of our country.” He said, “Even the most powerful are held to account, and nobody is above the law.”

“A somber moment in the life of our country, when it’s necessary to arraign a former president on criminal charges. As the case falls to the DA to prove, we must recognize what is most important: Even the most powerful are held to account, and that nobody is above the law,” Schiff tweeted.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio was among the first ones to comment on Twitter, saying “Today is a bad day for all of us & we are all going to regret it for a very long time.”

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean said No one should be above the law and today proved that.

“Mr. Trump was a president of many firsts — none of which were good for our country. His arraignment is another first — all of his own making. An immoral man. Corrupt citizen. Twice-impeached former President,” she tweeted.

Speaking from his Mar-A-Lago property in Florida, Trump said he “never thought anything like this could happen in America”.

“The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it,” a defiant Trump was quoted as saying by CNN.

(With agency inputs)

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