Former Trump rival Jeb Bush calls Manhattan grand jury indictment 'very political'

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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Saturday that a Manhattan grand jury's decision to indict former President Donald Trump during his third bid for the White House is "very political" and "not a matter of justice."

Bush, who challenged Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, noted in a tweet that Trump was indicted on case that other prosecutors refused to move forward with before Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office revived it recently.

"Bragg’s predecessor didn’t take up the case. The Justice Department didn’t take up the case. Bragg first said he would not take up the case. This is very political, not a matter of justice," Bush, the second son of former President George H.W. Bush wrote in a tweet.

"In this case, let the jury be the voters," he added.

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The exact charges of the indictment are still under seal, but Trump attorney Joe Tacopina said Thursday evening Trump could face more than 30 counts next week when he’s arraigned.

Bragg has been investigating Trump for hush money payments made leading up to the 2016 presidential election. These include the $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and the $150,000 payment made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

From left to right: Former Florrida Gov. Jeb Bush, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and former President Donald Trump. (Bryan Bedder, Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg, : Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Fox News reported and revealed in 2018 a series of hush money payments made to both McDougal and Daniels, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York and the Federal Election Commission both investigated those payments.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted out of charging Trump related to the Daniels payment in 2019, even as Michael Cohen, a former Trump attorney, implicated him as part of a plea deal. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.

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Trump reacted to the indictment by slamming Bragg for his "obsession" with trying to "get Trump," while warning the move to charge a former president of the United States will "backfire" on President Biden.

After a years-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, a Manhattan grand jury voted Thursday to indict former President Donald Trump. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history," Trump said in a statement. "From the time I came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower, and even before I was sworn in as your President of the United States, the Radical Left Democrats – the enemy of the hard-working men and women of this Country – have been engaged in a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement."

Bush's comments align with those made by other Republicans who currently serve in Congress.

"As he routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public, he weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump. The American people will not tolerate this injustice, and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a tweet Thursday.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the Manhattan grand jury's indictment of Trump is an "injustice" and that Americans "will not tolerate" it. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., also stated in a tweet Thursday that the "sham New York indictment of President Donald Trump is one of the clearest examples of extremist Democrats weaponizing government to attack their political opponents. Outrageous."

The charges against Trump come amid a separate, special counsel investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

Fox News' Brooke Singman and Brianna Herlihy contributed to this article.