Republicans in the US defend President Trump by criticizing the Criminal Justice System

Former President Donald Trump is facing criminal charges related to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. Many Republicans in Congress have responded to the looming indictment by characterizing the criminal justice system as corrupt, similar to their earlier accusations against the nation’s elections after Trump’s 2020 defeat. Trump and his allies have used rhetoric that echoes his false claims of widespread election fraud, which critics warn could shake public trust in courts and undermine the institutional legitimacy of the criminal justice system. Democrats have warned against challenging the legitimacy of government institutions in defense of Trump, who routinely pushed up against the guardrails of democracy during his four years in the White House and was twice impeached by Congress. Most Republicans have trained their invective on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, accusing the prosecutor of mounting a politically motivated investigation aimed at preventing Trump from being re-elected to the White House in 2024. Some Republicans have called Bragg’s move “an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority” and said the indictment followed years of searching for any basis on which to bring charges. Not all Republicans were quick to cast doubt on the courts, with former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson calling for patience and underscoring the legal principle that Trump, as a defendant, should be presumed innocent. Historians warn that Republican statements about Bragg and the criminal justice system follow a long-established partisan line and could ultimately have dire consequences for courts and juries.