As the announcement of a possible indictment against former President Donald Trump looms this week, Republican lawmakers are finding themselves in an all-too-familiar position: rallying to defend him.
In the coming days, a Manhattan grand jury is expected to indict Trump for charges related to hush money payments made to porn performer Stormy Daniels, making him the first former president to be the subject of a criminal case. Since the news broke of the possible charges against Trump, congressional Republicans have broadly come to his defense, framing the indictment as an instance of political persecution. And on Monday, House Republicans announced that they’d like to bring in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg — the prosecutor who pursued charges against Trump — for testimony in order to raise questions about the case.
Arguing that Trump is innocent and being unfairly targeted by Democrats is one of two strategies Republicans routinely employ when Trump is in trouble, the other being to avoid the subject when the former president has done something incredibly difficult to defend. This playbook has been apparent following a federal raid at his residence in Mar-a-Lago, during his impeachment trials, and even during his first presidential campaign. It’s also one Trump has used prominently himself, dubbing his second impeachment a “witch hunt,” for instance.
For some Republicans, Trump’s indictment raises the question of just how much baggage the party should put up with. As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a likely presidential competitor — noted in remarks responding to the expected indictment, there are other candidates who don’t have quite so many issues weighing them down. “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,” DeSantis quipped in a news conference on Monday. “I just, I can’t speak to that.”
Republicans’ willingness to continue shielding Trump…
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