Matt Whitaker: Indictment of Trump the 'stuff of a Banana Republic'
Former U.S. Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker reacts to a federal grand jury indicting former President Donald Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified documents on 'Fox News Tonight.'
Former President Donald Trump's top allies in Congress are linking his indictment on Thursday night to a bid to take attention away from an FBI document the includes allegations President Biden was guilty of taking a bribe while vice president.
"The SAME DAY [House Oversight Committee] is shown a document by the FBI showing evidence that Biden and his son were each paid $5 million dollars by a foreign national the DOJ indicts Trump. Coincidental? I think not," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., wrote on Twitter.
House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik went so far as to accuse Democrats of meddling in the 2024 election. "The exact same day that the FBI is forced to turn over to Congress absolutely damning and credible allegations regarding Joe Biden’s illegal, egregious, and treasonous corruption, Joe Biden weaponizes his Department of Justice to indict Donald Trump," she said.
"The American people are smart and understand this is the epitome of the illegal and unprecedented weaponization of the federal government against Joe Biden’s leading opponent, President Donald J. Trump. The radical Far Left will stop at nothing to interfere with the 2024 election in order to prop up the catastrophic presidency and desperate campaign of Joe Biden," Stefanik said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY, accused Democrats of working to meddle in the 2024 election (The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The former president announced he'd been indicted in Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the handling of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
"The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax," Trump wrote on his Truth Social app. "I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM. I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country, and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election. I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!"
Trump had been indicted earlier this year in a separate case conducted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg linked to hush money payments made to a porn star who claims to have had an affair with Trump in 2006.
PROTESTERS GET PHYSICAL OUTSIDE NYC COURTHOUSE BEFORE TRUMP ARRAIGNMENT
Donald Trump's allies immediately seized on the fact that the Trump indictment came the same day as Republicans viewed an FBI document they show proves President Biden took a bribe
"It's a sad day for America. God bless President Trump," said House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pledged to hold those involved in the indictment "accountable," declaring, "Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. It is unconscionable for a President to indict the leading candidate opposing him. Joe Biden kept classified documents for decades."
"I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice. House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable," McCarthy said.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said, "Imagine being naive enough to believe that the Biden Bribe evidence and Trump indictment happening the same day was a coincidence."
"The phony Boxes Hoax indictment is an attempt to distract the American public from the millions of dollars in bribes that the Biden Crime Family received from foreign nationals. This scheme won't succeed. President Donald Trump will be back in the White House and Joe Biden will be Hunter’s cellmate," Gaetz also said.
Special Counsel Jack Smith (Fox News screenshot/AP Photo)
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wrote, "Democrats must literally shake with sweats when they see amazing packed out Trump rallies and overwhelming winning poll numbers week after week.
"We must win in 2024. We must beat these sick people. We started winning today in the SCIF reading proof of Joe Biden’s bribery crimes in Ukraine. Ultimately we win in the end," Greene said.
"We cannot have two tiers of justice: one for Trump on government document retention, another for Biden. One for Assange, another for Manning. One for BLM/Antifa, another for peaceful protesters on January 6," said GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. "I never thought we would see the day when the U.S. President deputizes the DOJ to arrest his lead rival in the middle of an election.
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