House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had already made up his mind about Donald Trump’s indictment before he’d even seen it. Last week, unaware of what the former president would even be charged with, the California Republican condemned the charges as an “injustice.”
Yesterday, the GOP leader pried himself away from working on his party’s budget plan long enough to comment anew in the wake of Trump’s arraignment. My MSNBC colleague Shawn Cox noted:
[A]fter Trump was arraigned in wake of an actual indictment, the California Republican took to Twitter to suggest that his House “weaponization” subcommittee would be taking a look at the case, declaring that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s “weaponization of the federal justice process will be held accountable by Congress.”
McCarthy’s message stood out for a few reasons. Right off the bat, there was the curious reference to “the federal justice process,” which seemed odd given that the local prosecutor is relying on New York’s justice process.
What’s more, this was a serious allegation of wrongdoing from McCarthy, and as Shawn added, it’s baseless: There’s “zero evidence the Trump indictment amounts to the ‘weaponization’ of the Manhattan DA’s office.”
I also can’t wait to see if McCarthy tries to put the House Republicans’ “weaponization” to use against the Manhattan prosecutor, given that the panel has proven to be such a hapless fiasco.
While we’re at it, let’s also not forget that McCarthy — who famously said he’d “had it with this guy” in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot, only to kiss Trump’s ring at Mar-a-Lago soon after — has long opposed accountability for the former president. The fact that House speaker instead supports accountability for the Manhattan district attorney is precisely backwards.
But even if we put all of that aside, there’s another angle to this that’s worth keeping in mind: As Congress takes steps to interfere with a state criminal prosecution,…
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