Trump charges aggravate partisan tensions — in Congress and beyond

The historic arraignment of former President Trump on Tuesday sparked an immediate — and highly caustic — dispute across Congress and the country, exacerbating tensions between Trump's GOP allies and his Democratic critics just as House Republicans have added a probe into the Manhattan District Attorney to their long list of investigative priorities. 

Those hostilities were evident in the demonstrations outside the Manhattan courthouse where Trump appeared to face 34 felony charges related to hush payments to an adult film actress in 2016.

They emerged further on cable news, where lawmakers in both camps jousted over the nature and propriety of the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, against the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race.

And they were glaring on social media, where Republicans howled about political interference in elections, Democrats demanded equal treatment under the law and both sides sought to get an upper hand in the public relations battle heading into next year’s presidential contest. 

The debate — in many ways an extension of the dispute over Trump that followed the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — did not lack for melodrama. 

Trump’s fiercest defenders compared the former president to Jesus and fat-shamed Bragg, while Republicans in general accused Democrats of using Trump’s arrest as a way to cling to power.

“Trump is joining some of the most incredible people in history being arrested today. Nelson Mandela was arrested, served time in prison. Jesus — Jesus was arrested and murdered by the Roman government,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told Right Side Broadcasting host Brian Glenn in New York on Tuesday. 

Greene was drowned out by protesters when making brief comments outside the Manhattan courthouse before Trump’s arrest. Embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) also made a brief appearance outside the courthouse.

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who served as physician to the president during the Trump and Obama administrations, referred to Bragg as “FAT ALVIN” on Twitter, urging him to “go ahead and celebrate with another jelly donut, but get ready to answer some serious questions from Congress!” In a subsequent statement, Jackson called Bragg a “spineless weasel.”

And House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), who like most House Republicans sought to overturn the 2020 election results, said Bragg’s case proves that “there is nothing [Democrats] won’t do to hold onto power.” 

“Today is a historic low for our nation,” he tweeted.  

Even some of Trump’s harshest GOP critics defended him against Bragg’s indictment.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said in a statement that while he finds Trump “unfit for office,” he thought Bragg’s case “sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public’s faith in our justice system.”

Democrats largely stopped short of celebrating Trump’s arrest, urging protesters to be peaceful and defending the judicial branch from congressional interference. But they wasted no time condemning Republicans for attacks on Bragg.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) also appeared outside the courthouse ahead of Trump's arrest, saying Bragg "simply followed the facts where they led" and criticizing Greene for rallying outside.

“Marjorie Taylor Greene needs to take her ass back to Washington and do something about gun violence, do something about affordable housing, do something about childhood poverty, do something about climate change,” Bowman said in a video reposted to his Twitter account.

He added, “Do your freaking job Marjorie Taylor Greene, you don’t need to be in New York City talking that nonsense.”

"Instead of reflecting on the importance of holding leaders accountable to our American democracy, prominent Republicans have instead called Mr. Trump the victim, castigated the New York District Attorney, denigrated the justice system, and fomented national unrest,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.).

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also weighed in, suggesting Republicans are abusing their authority by going after Bragg. 

“I believe that Mr. Trump will have a fair trial that follows the facts and the law. There’s no place in our justice system for any outside influence or intimidation in the legal process. As the trial proceeds, protest is an American right but all protests must be peaceful,” Schumer said. 

Other Democrats were more strident, accusing Republicans of “bullying” law enforcers to protect a political ally. 

“In a desperate attempt to protect Mr. Trump, the most extreme House Republicans are already trying to bully the law enforcement officers involved,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “I do not know how this case will be decided, but I do know that DA Bragg will not be deterred or intimidated by the political stunts Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy throw at him."

Some were pithier in their reactions. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) posted a photo of Trump on Twitter with the caption “Karma.”

The White House has declined to comment on Trump’s indictment and arrest.

Following Trump’s announcement last month that he expected to be arrested in the hush money probe, McCarthy (R-Calif.), the House Speaker, promised that Republicans would investigate Bragg. Jordan (R-Ohio), the Judiciary chairman, soon led two other committee chairs with a request for Bragg to testify to Congress about the case.

“Members of Congress simply should not be commenting or interfering in the legal process and we should let it play out,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said on MSNBC just before Trump’s arraignment.

McCarthy reiterated his commitment to investigating Bragg after Trump’s court appearance on Tuesday, accusing him of trying to interfere in the “democratic process” and pushing back on Bragg’s suggestions that Congress does not have the authority to investigate the indictment. 

“Bragg’s weaponization of the federal justice process will be held accountable by Congress,” McCarthy tweeted, noting that Bragg’s office admitted that approximately $5,000 spent on the investigation came from federal funds.

The heightened partisan tensions come at a volatile time in Washington, just as leaders in both parties are set to launch into a high-stakes battle over the size and scope of the federal government with enormous implications for the economy. A failure to raise the debt ceiling could lead to a government default; an impasse over government funding could lead to a shutdown; and there’s been no sign, even before Trump’s arrest, that the sides were ready to ease their demands for the sake of a deal. 

The question of Trump’s fate will not let up on members of Congress any time soon. Trump’s next in-person court appearance was set for Dec. 4 — about two months before the official start of the 2024 Republican presidential primary race, which kicks off with the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 5.

Next year’s election loomed large over Tuesday’s arraignment, with some of Trump’s GOP allies rejecting the notion that his indictment will influence his 2024 bid.

“President Trump continues to skyrocket in the polls, and just like with the Russia hoax and both sham impeachments, President Trump will defeat this latest witch-hunt, defeat Joe Biden, and will be sworn in as President of the United States of America in January 2025,” House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) said in a statement.

Greene and other GOP members of Congress are set to join Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence on Tuesday evening, where the former president is scheduled to deliver remarks after he did not speak to reporters during his roughly two hours at the Manhattan courthouse.

Schumer calls for calm after Trump’s arraignment: ‘Protests must be peaceful’

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Tuesday called for cool heads and a fair legal process shortly after Donald Trump made history as the first former president ever to face criminal charges.

"I believe that Mr. Trump will have a fair trial that follows the facts and the law," Schumer said in a statement. "There’s no place in our justice system for any outside influence or intimidation in the legal process. As the trial proceeds, protest is an American right but all protests must be peaceful."

Trump pleaded "not guilty" to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, linked to alleged hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the GOP leader’s 2016 campaign.

Whereas his Republican allies have spent Tuesday afternoon casting accusations of partisanship at New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg for running the investigation, Democrats have mostly been restrained in their responses – emphasizing that the judicial process must be allowed to go on without interference.

TRUMP PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO GRAND JURY CHARGES DURING ARRAIGNMENT IN MANHATTAN COURT

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., one of Trump’s loudest critics when he was in office, was also careful in his statement on the arrest.

"As Donald Trump challenges the legitimacy of our criminal justice system, let us give him the equal protection and due process he’s deprived everyone he’s accused of a crime," Swalwell said. "Justice benefits all of us."

TRUMP ALLIES SLAM HIS ARREST AS ATTACK ON RULE OF LAW: ‘A DARK DAY FOR OUR COUNTRY’

Democrats were similarly tepid in their reactions last week when Trump was indicted by a grand jury on the criminal charges. By contrast, the GOP coalesced around the ex-president and attacked Bragg as a left-wing ideologue.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who led the House’s first impeachment of Trump after his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, also stressed that his fate was now up to the justice system. But he took a shot at Trump by adding, "nobody is above the law."

TRUMP TARGETED: A LOOK AT THE INVESTIGATIONS INVOLVING THE FORMER PRESIDENT; FROM RUSSIA TO MAR-A-LAGO

"A somber moment in the life of our country, when it’s necessary to arraign a former president on criminal charges. As the case falls to the DA to prove, we must recognize what is most important: Even the most powerful are held to account, and that nobody is above the law," Schiff said.

Bragg explained the charges at a press conference after Trump left the courthouse on Tuesday.

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"Under New York state law, it is a felony to falsify business records with intent to defraud and intent to conceal another crime. That is exactly what this case is about – thirty-four false statements made to cover up other crimes. These are felony crimes in New York no matter who you are," he said.

Trump pleads not guilty to grand jury charges during arraignment in Manhattan court

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to charges brought by a Manhattan grand jury Tuesday afternoon in court in New York City after surrendering to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office earlier in the afternoon.

The former president of the United States, and the leading Republican presidential candidate for 2024, was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury Thursday after a years-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Trump pleaded not guilty during his arraignment before Judge Juan Merchan, the trial judge presiding over the case, in the courtroom on the 15th floor of 100 Centre Street in New York City.

The indictment was unsealed in court Tuesday. Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. 

Trump was not handcuffed, as some are during an arraignment, after making arrangements with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Detectives within the office handled the arrest of the former president.

TRUMP SAYS DA BRAGG'S 'OBSESSION' WITH TRYING TO 'GET TRUMP' WILL 'BACKFIRE' AFTER GRAND JURY INDICTMENT

Law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service, New York Police Department, FBI, New York State court officers and the DA's office, met Friday afternoon to finalize details about the logistics and security of Trump's arrest.

TRUMP INDICTED AFTER MANHATTAN DA PROBE FOR HUSH MONEY PAYMENTS

The unprecedented arraignment and indictment of the former president comes after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin 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. Both women were paid for their silence on alleged affairs with Trump — affairs Trump has repeatedly denied.

Those payments had been investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York and by the Federal Election Commission.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted out of charging Trump related to the Daniels payment in 2019. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.

TRUMP TARGETED: A LOOK AT THE INVESTIGATIONS INVOLVING THE FORMER PRESIDENT; FROM RUSSIA TO MAR-A-LAGO

Trump has slammed the DA’s investigation and the indictment as "Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history."

"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," Trump said last week.

"You remember it just like I do: Russia, Russia, Russia; the Mueller Hoax; Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine; Impeachment Hoax 1; Impeachment Hoax 2; the illegal and unconstitutional Mar-a-Lago raid; and now this," Trump said, referring to the investigations that clouded his presidency.

"The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable—indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference," Trump said. "Never before in our Nation’s history has this been done."

TRUMP TO BE ARRAIGNED TUESDAY WITHOUT HANDCUFFS, SOURCES SAY

He slammed Bragg as a "disgrace" and said he was "hand-picked and funded by George Soros."

"Rather than stop the unprecedented crime wave taking over New York City, he’s doing Joe Biden’s dirty work, ignoring the murders and burglaries and assaults he should be focused on," he said. "This is how Bragg spends his time!"

"I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden," Trump added. 

The investigation into Trump was opened in 2019 by then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. The probe was focused on possible bank, insurance and tax fraud. The case initially involved financial dealings of Trump’s Manhattan properties, including his flagship Fifth Avenue building, Trump Tower, and the valuation of his 213-acre estate Seven Springs in Westchester.

Last year, the investigation led to tax fraud charges against The Trump Organization and its finance chief Allen Weisselberg.

Michigan Republican announces bid to flip 1 of dozens of NRCC’s Democratic target seats in 2024

EXCLUSIVE – Michael Markey announced his campaign to become the Republican nominee for Michigan's 3rd Congressional District.

The announcement makes him the immediate frontrunner to take on Rep. Hillary Scholten, who narrowly won the seat in 2022. 

The 3rd District is seen as a key pickup for Republicans to maintain their majority in the House of Representatives. 

"It is with great humility and excitement that I announce my campaign for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District," Markey said in a statement exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital. "As a businessman, husband and father, I am concerned about the path our country is taking. We need a disruptor who will stand up to the Washington status quo that has gotten us into this mess. It is time for bold ideas to address inflation, usher in an era of energy independence, and disrupt the traditional ways of doing things in Washington."

HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR SAYS DOZENS OF DEMOCRATIC SEATS ARE IN PLAY FOR 2024

"I am humbled by the support my campaign is already receiving, and I look forward to campaigning against Congresswoman Scholten and her radical agenda that threatens our Michigan way of life," the Grand Haven businessman added. 

According to his campaign, Markey is a lifelong Michigander and entrepreneur. He started his first business – a claw machine at a local restaurant – when he was just 14 years old. 

On the heels of the 2009 financial crisis, he launched a successful investment firm, his campaign says. Markey's "days as an entrepreneur taught him how to disrupt the status quo with a result-driven mentality. Michael and his wife Vanessa have three children, who Mike says challenge and delight them daily." 

Markey previously ran among a crowded pool of GOP candidates gunning to oust Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Last summer, however, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled he and four other GOP candidates should not be included on the 2022 ballot after failing to turn in enough valid signatures to qualify for the August primary. 

Conservative Tudor Dixon won the GOP nomination but ultimately failed to defeat Whitmer in the general election. 

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In March of this year, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced that it will target 37 Democratic seats in 2024 in a bid to expand the House majority. Michigan's 3rd District was included on that list, and Markey is the first to tap in on that GOP offensive line. 

Scholten, a former social worker and immigration attorney, defeated Trump-backed political newcomer John Gibbs in November, making her the first woman to represent Grand Rapids in the U.S. House and the first Democrat from the area since 1977, according to the Michigan Advance. Gibbs made waves for his comments attacking women's suffrage after winning the GOP primary against former Rep. Peter Meijer, who supported former President Donald Trump's impeachment following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. 

In a profile published in the Michigan Advance Sunday, Scholten spoke of a "strong sisterhood in Congress" amid the growing number of women representatives. 

Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., the chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, described Scholten as a "real standout in this freshman class" who is leading the charge on key issues such as gun reform and combating child labor. For the Democratic Women’s Caucus, Frankel said the "abortion issue is at the top of the list" of priorities. 

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"She’s moved up pretty quickly in her short term," Frankel said of Scholten, who was named a ranking member to the Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure within the U.S. House Committee on Small Business and vice ranking member on the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on the Coast Guard. "She’s got an energy, and it’s like, ‘I’m a mom, and I’m here to fight for the families of this country.’"

In her first legislation introduced to Congress, Scholten and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., co-sponsored a bill last week that would significantly increase civil monetary penalties for those who violate child labor laws. The bills come after a recent New York Times piece revealed how migrant children "work brutal jobs across the U.S."

GOP warns Trump charges will lead to more political prosecutions 

Republicans are warning that the unprecedented indictment of former President Trump on multiple charges sets a dangerous precedent that will lower the bar for future political prosecutions while putting the nation on a precarious slippery slope. 

Some Republicans are comparing Trump’s indictment — over crimes related to the payment of $130,000 to an adult film actress — to the House Republican impeachment of then-President Bill Clinton in 1998 on charges related to his affair with a White House intern.  

They predict that indicting Trump will make future former presidents and other political figures more susceptible to politically motivated prosecutions.  

Democrats counter with the refrain that no person is above the law, regardless of whether he served in the Oval Office.  

But some Democrats were not thrilled to hear that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) would be the first prosecutor to indict Trump; the conduct he is targeting has been publicly known for five years and other prosecutors, including Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., passed on the opportunity.  

“I think it is a terrible precedent for the country. I think it’s bad for America, bad for the Republican Party and it’s bad for the political system in our country. Once you start down this path, there’s no way you’re going to reverse it. That’s what we saw with impeachment,” said Vin Weber, a Republican strategist and former member of the House GOP leadership.  

“We’re going to see political prosecutions brought, some of them for meritorious reasons, some of them to advance the careers of the prosecutors. But all of this is harmful to America and our political process,” he added.  

Weber said “another whole aspect” of the case is that Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, according to 10 of the most recent national polls.  

“There are people in this vast country of ours who have less than sterling motivations and you want them to be inhibited by rules that we’ve established, informal rules, that are designed to protect the whole system,” he said.     

“Once this wall of precedent has been destroyed, we’re going to find people around the country who are going to find reasons to engage in political prosecutions,” he added, noting that some Republicans are talking about the possibility of bringing charges against President Biden or his son Hunter after he leaves office.  

“I don’t know if that’s likely or not but we’re going to see something somewhere,” he said.  

Some Republican officeholders are framing Trump’s indictment as motivated purely by politics. 

“These charges aren’t about enforcing the law. Democrats barely pretend they are. They are the left telling the nation, we’re in charge here. And if you threaten us, we will destroy you,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) tweeted last week.  

Former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), a one-time adviser to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s (Ky.) leadership team, said “it’s extremely dangerous for our democracy to indict a former president unless there is an unequivocal violation representing a very significant offense.” 

“This does not appear to rise anywhere near that. In fact it appears to be extremely political from a distance,” he added. “So I think it sets a precedent, and it’s a very dangerous precedent for democracy.  

“It creates an atmosphere where the courts are being used as a political weapon,” he said. “It undermines I think the confidence of the American people in their democracy, in their legal system.” 

Critics of Bragg’s case, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), point out that Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, made the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election and the statute of limitations in New York is two years for misdemeanors and five years for minor felonies.  

These critics believe Bragg will try to tie that payment to an effort to conceal another crime, most likely a violation of campaign finance law, to get around the statute of limitations. 

Cruz noted that a similar charge was brought against former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and was thrown out at trial. Edwards used nearly $1 million in payments from his political backers to support his mistress during the 2008 campaign. Democrats at the time criticized the charges brought by a Republican prosecutor as politically motivated.  

“Bragg’s case is even weaker because [the New York law in question] is ordinarily a misdemeanor with a two-year statute of limitations, so he couldn’t bring the claim,” he said. “In order to get it to be a felony, there’s a separate New York statute, which requires you have a fraudulent business record that aided in another crime. 

“He’s got to bootstrap presumably a federal campaign finance violation, which the federal government declined to bring,” Cruz explained. “The core allegation at the heart of Bragg’s case is that Trump mischaracterized a payment as legal fees when it was not in fact legal fees. 

“Hillary Clinton at the exact same time, in 2016 during the presidential campaign … paid $1 million for the Steele Dossier to be compiled — the fake and fantastical work of fiction that her oppo research team put together that tragically became the basis of [Special Counsel Robert’ Mueller’s] investigation,” he said.

Cruz said Clinton also characterized the funding of the Steele Dossier research as legal payments, arguing that this shows Bragg is playing politics.

“It make obvious this is partisan politics,” he said.  

Experts say the precedent set by indicting Trump will reverberate into the future.  

“Every time a threshold is crossed in politics, it sets a predicate for another line to be crossed. Once a taboo is violated politically, it just makes it easier to do it a second time. There’s precedent,” said Ross K. Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University.  

He said Bragg’s case appears to be weaker than possible charges anticipated from Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith and Georgia's Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.  

“I think it would be better if the precedent were stronger. If it were an open-and-shut case, it would be harder to argue … local district attorneys shouldn’t have the power to indict presidents,” he said.  

Baker said the “gravity” of the allegations against Trump related to his alleged role inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and to his alleged role in trying to subvert the election results in Georgia in 2020 would give any charges brought by the Department of Justice or the Fulton County DA's office more credibility than Bragg's case. 

Kentucky Republicans leave abortion ban intact during Legislature’s annual session

After years of setbacks, abortion-rights supporters in Republican-leaning Kentucky thought they achieved a breakthrough in November, when voters defeated a measure aimed at denying any constitutional protections for abortion.

But their hopes that the state's sweeping abortion ban might be relaxed vanished well before the GOP-dominated Legislature ended its annual session.

After years of making anti-abortion policies a cornerstone of their agenda, Republicans skipped over the issue this year, leaving intact a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy while it's hashed out in the courts. Instead, social conservatives focused on enacting legislation aimed at transgender youths during the session that ended Thursday.

A handful of abortion bills, including proposals to restore abortion rights or add rape and incest exemptions to the sweeping ban, either failed to get a committee hearing or never were assigned to a committee.

For most states, this was the first legislative session since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and lawmakers on both sides have dug in. Republicans are moving to make abortion restrictions tougher, while Democrats are seeking to protect access.

In Kentucky, beleaguered abortion-rights proponents had hoped momentum would swing in their direction, only to be left frustrated.

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Democratic state Rep. Lindsey Burke filed legislation to restore abortion access, saying she believed "Kentucky voters spoke loud and clear last November."

"If passing my bill was not possible, then I definitely think more should have been done to carve out at least some exemptions," Burke added.

Republicans pointed to legal uncertainties surrounding Kentucky's ban that allows abortions only to save a woman's life or prevent disabling injury. That has largely been in place since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in their ruling last June. In February, Kentucky's Supreme Court refused to halt the law while sending the case back to a lower court to consider larger constitutional questions about whether abortion should be legal in the state.

"I still think there’s a desire to wait for more clarity from the courts before we move forward," said Republican Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, a staunch abortion opponent who even before the legislative session began had predicted it would be difficult to persuade anti-abortion senators to add more exceptions for when a pregnancy could be ended.

Abortion-rights supporters trumpeted the defeat of the anti-abortion ballot measure in November as a clear mandate from voters. But key Republican lawmakers didn't see it that way.

KENTUCKY SENATE CONVICTS FORMER PROSECUTOR IN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

"I saw it more as the opposing campaign ran a better campaign that scared people into voting ‘no,’" Thayer said.

The abortion debate drew widespread attention during the campaign, when both sides mounted grassroots efforts, but it turned to silence during Kentucky's ensuing legislative session.

One bill briefly received attention when it was introduced in late February, nearly a week after the state Supreme Court opinion. That measure would have permitted abortions caused by rape or incest for up to 15 weeks of pregnancy. Another exemption would have allowed abortions if two doctors determined that a fetus has an "abnormality that is incompatible with life outside the womb."

The bill's lead sponsor was Republican state Rep. Jason Nemes, the House majority party whip, but the measure was never assigned to a committee.

"That’s something I believe in and I’ll fight for," Nemes said in recent days when discussing his bill. "But I don’t think there’s a mandate across Kentucky either way" on the abortion issue.

Democratic state Rep. Rachel Roberts, who unsuccessfully pushed for rape and incest exceptions last year, said she wasn’t surprised the exemptions bill went nowhere.

"The voters’ rejection of the anti-abortion constitutional amendment meant nothing to their party, which is as tragic as it is unsurprising," said Roberts, the House minority party whip.

Other failed abortion bills this year ran the gamut — from a Republican freshman's bill to allow illegal abortions to be prosecuted as homicides to the bill to restore abortion access.

Abortion came up in casual conversations during the session, but House Republicans didn’t formally discuss abortion measures in caucus meetings, said Nemes, a chief House GOP vote-counter who called it a "divisive issue."

Kentucky's GOP lawmakers instead focused on another issue that's energized the party's base across the U.S. — restricting the rights of LGBTQ+ people. Republicans overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's veto to enact a bill that bans access to gender-affirming health care for transgender youths and restricts the bathrooms they can use in schools.

"With access to abortion care currently unavailable in Kentucky, those individuals needed another political football," said Angela Cooper, communications director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. "Sadly, they chose to sit on the wrong wide of history and attack trans youth."

With Assist From Manhattan DA, Trump Once Again Enjoys United GOP Support

By Philip Wegmann for RealClearPolitics

Donald Trump again made history Thursday evening, this time by becoming the first former president of the United States to be indicted, stemming from charges related to illegal hush money payments made to a porn star in 2016.

And yet even while in legal jeopardy, blindsided by an indictment he hoped to avoid, Trump has tightened his grip on the GOP. His wrongful persecution has become the defining cause of the right. At least that’s how many Republicans see it.

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“When our justice system is weaponized as a political tool, it endangers all of us,” said Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. “This is a blatant abuse of power from a DA focused on political vengeance instead of keeping people safe.”

Allies close to the former president previously cautioned him to avoid controversy and to move beyond personal politics to focus on the challenges facing the nation. If he could just do that, Sen. Lindsey Graham predicted in an interview last summer with RealClearPolitics, Trump had “a damn good chance of winning” not just the nomination but once again the White House.

“If it is a grievance campaign,” the South Carolina Republican almost sighed, “then he is gonna have a problem.” Less than a year later, Trump is a candidate again. And Trump is very much aggrieved. But this time, the grievance isn’t exactly by his own invitation. Graham now sees it central to his return to power.

“How does this end, Sean,” the senator told the host of Hannity on Fox News, “Trump wins in court. And he wins the election. That’s how this works.” A loyal surrogate for that presidential campaign, he urged viewers three different times to go donate to the former president because “he has spent more money on lawyers than most people spend on campaigns – they’re trying to bleed him dry.”

Graham isn’t wrong, not just about mounting legal expenses, but more broadly about Trump’s mounting lead in the polls since predicting nearly two weeks ago that he would soon be arrested. He was already the undisputed front runner in the polls before the indictment.

Now defense of the former president is the united cause of the Republican Party. It instantly shifted the 2024 landscape. The scope of the indictment is not known, though some early reporting suggests Trump could face more than 30 counts related to business fraud. Forthcoming legal details, however, were immediately eclipsed by political considerations Thursday evening.

RELATED: Mask Off Moment: Pelosi Shredded After Suggesting Trump Needs to ‘Prove Innocence’ at Trial

The indictment was just more of the same, Trump said in a statement, likening it to “Russia, Russia, Russia; the Mueller Hoax; Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine; Impeachment Hoax 1; Impeachment Hoax 2; the illegal and unconstitutional Mar-a-Lago raid; and now this.”

For Republicans, it was muscle memory to rally to Trump’s defense like they have done so many times before. “Alvin Bragg has irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in a statement echoed across all corners of the right from old Trump rivals, like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who said the indictment signaled “the death of the rule of law,” and new Trump allies, like Ohio Sen. JD Vance who called it “political persecution.”

Trump loyalists seem to have been caught off guard Thursday by leaked news that a grand jury voted to indict the former president. Given that federal prosecutors declined previously to take up the issue of hush payments made ahead of the 2016 election, they had hoped that Bragg wouldn’t ultimately follow through.

Alina Habba, Trump’s attorney, said in an interview with Bret Baier of Fox News that she was “shocked” by the news. She confirmed that a booking at the New York City courthouse, complete with fingerprinting and a mug shot, was soon expected.

If the coming legal wrangling is unprecedented, the political fallout was somewhat familiar. Although Trump’s 2024 rivals were quick to condemn the looming indictment, either by accident or design, the Manhattan district attorney has shifted the national political landscape just 10 months before the Iowa caucuses.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is expected to make his own bid for the White House, said the treatment of his old boss was an “outrage” that amounted to “political persecution.” A representative for the Nikki Haley campaign pointed RCP to previous comments the former ambassador made condemning the then still rumored indictment as motivated by “revenge.”

But perhaps the most significant development came from another Florida Republican, the only other potential candidate polling within striking distance of Trump.

RELATED: President Donald Trump’s Lead Grows After Indictment

That state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, earlier incurred the wrath of Trump and many in his orbit for not speaking out sooner when the former president prematurely predicted his indictment. When first addressing the controversy, DeSantis pledged to avoid “the circus” altogether. Worse in the eyes of MAGA? DeSantis made reference to the underlying facts of the case.

“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,” DeSantis said at a press conference. “I just, I can’t speak to that.”

But the governor did not take any shots, veiled or otherwise, at Trump Thursday evening. Instead, DeSantis condemned the indictment as “un-American.” DeSantis vowed that Florida, if it came to that, would not cooperate with forcing the former president from his estate in Mar-a-Lago to face charges in New York.

“Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda,” he said in a statement.

And just like that, with an assist from a local Democratic district attorney in a state no Republican has carried since 1984, it seems that rather than revisiting old grievances, a newly aggrieved Trump has moved one step closer to the Republican nomination. Lindsey Graham seemingly spoke for the GOP, while making little distinction between opposing an allegedly politicized prosecution, supporting Trump, and defending America itself.

“This is the most irresponsible and dangerous decision by a prosecutor in the history of the country,” the South Carolina Republican said. “He’s opened up a Pandora’s box against the presidency itself.”

Syndicated with permission from RealClearWire.

The post With Assist From Manhattan DA, Trump Once Again Enjoys United GOP Support appeared first on The Political Insider.

Wisconsin special election to fill open state Senate seat could give GOP supermajority, impeachment power

A special election to fill an open Wisconsin Senate seat will determine whether Republicans gain a supermajority that would allow them to impeach Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and other office holders as well as move the GOP a step closer to overriding gubernatorial vetoes.

Voters on Tuesday will pick Democrat Jodi Habush Sinykin or Republican state Rep. Dan Knodl to represent Milwaukee's northern suburbs. The seat has been under Republican control for decades but came open in November after longtime incumbent Alberta Darling chose to retire after 30 years in the Senate. Evers scheduled a special election to fill the position to coincide with the state's spring Supreme Court election.

The stakes are huge. A Knodl win would give Republicans 22 votes in the chamber, enough to override gubernatorial vetoes if the state Assembly also votes to do so and enough to convict civil officers in impeachment trials.

Knodl denied accusations from Habush Sinykin that he would vote to impeach Evers if elected. He said in an email to The Associated Press that he has had success working with the governor.

Habush Sinykin said it's "essential" for Democrats to win the seat, saying impeachment isn't "just hypothetical."

WISCONSIN TEEN WHO SHOT 8 PEOPLE AT A MILWAUKEE MALL SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON

"It’s going to happen," she said. The election is "high stakes in every way for democracy, for the balance of power, to protect the governor’s veto, to protect against these nonsense impeachment threats. Will this be a government where we don’t have any checks or balances on the Legislature?"

Veto overrides, at least in the near future, appear unlikely. A successful override requires a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and Assembly and Republicans are two seats shy of the 66 they would need in the Assembly. But Democrats fear that if Senate Republican achieve a two-thirds majority their counterparts could launch a stealth override attempt during a floor session where two Democrats are absent.

Impeachment trials, though, could become a GOP tactic if Knodl wins.

Under state law, the Assembly can trigger a trial in the Senate with 50 votes. Conviction requires a two-thirds Senate vote. It's not clear who could be impeached, though. According to an analysis from the Legislative Reference Bureau, the state constitution says the Legislature can impeach "civil officers" but doesn't define that term.

The state Supreme Court has ruled that the constitution makes specific mention of the governor, lieutenant governor and judges as impeachable officers. The reference bureau analysis concludes that other constitutional officers such as the attorney general could be impeached as well. The Assembly has impeached someone only once, Judge Levi Hubbell in 1853, but the Senate ultimately acquitted him, according to the analysis.

WISCONSIN MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MAKING THREAT AGAINST COUNTY OFFICIAL

Knodl has served in the Assembly for 15 years. He was one of 15 Wisconsin Republicans who sent a letter to then-Vice President Mike Pence in January 2022 asking him to delay certifying presidential results that showed Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump.

While Evers apparently isn't in his impeachment sights, Knodl said on WISN-TV's "UpFront" earlier this month that he would consider impeaching Milwaukee County judges for being weak on crime. Asked whether that includes liberal Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz, should she remain a Milwaukee County judge, Knodl responded: "I certainly would consider it."

Protasiewicz faces conservative Dan Kelly in Tuesday's election, and a Protasiewicz win would give liberal justices a 4-3 majority on the court. State law doesn't specifically say that sitting justices can be impeached, but Wisconsin laws are based on federal law that opens up justices to impeachment and could be interpreted as permitting them to be impeached.

Republicans also could attempt to impeach her before she's sworn in as a justice. The question then would be whether releasing criminals on bail or handing out lenient sentences rises to the level of corruption.

Knodl also has said he would consider impeaching Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. Republicans have long criticized the Democratic prosecutor as being soft on crime.

Habush Sinykin holds a law degree from Harvard and has worked as an attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates. She was a key litigator in MEA's lawsuit to block Wisconsin wolf hunters from using dogs. A state appeals court ultimately rejected the group's arguments in 2014.

Habush Sinykin held a massive financial advantage over Knodl as Election Day approached.

According to the latest campaign finance reports, she raised nearly $1.1 million between Jan. 1 and March 20. A huge chunk of that money — $453,550 — came from the State Senate Democratic Committee. She received another $25,000 from the state Democratic Party.

Knodl raised $324,200 between Jan. 1 and March 20. The largest contribution he received was $2,000 from a political action committee that represents the interests of health insurers.

Rep. Jim Banks backs Trump in wake of ‘flimsy’ indictment: ‘Despicable example of a political persecution’

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., expressed support for former President Trump on Friday and blasted the indictment against him as politically motivated.

"Here's the thing about Donald Trump that makes him different," Banks said during an interview with radio host Tony Katz. "The man does not back down. That's why I support Donald Trump. He doesn't back down. He's not going to back down on this, he's going to fight back, and this is just the beginning, I think, of yet another chapter where Donald Trump is going to come back on top in the end."

Banks also claimed the charges against Trump are "flimsy," describing them as "a despicable example of a political persecution" and a result of Democrats weaponizing the justice system "because they're afraid of him becoming the president again."

Noting he was "not stunned" by Trump's indictment, Banks said, "I watched what the Democrats did when he was in the White House, from the fake Russia collusion hoax to two impeachments, to the sham Jan. 6 committee. You remember the Russian bounty story about troops in Afghanistan."

INDICTMENT GIVES TRUMP A POLITICAL BOOST, BUT SOME GOP OPERATIVES WONDER HOW LONG IT CAN LAST

"I watched what the left did to this guy every single day he was in the White House and every single day since," Banks said. "I'm not surprised by how low and how far the Democrats will go to abuse their power to stop the most effective president of my lifetime from becoming president again."

Banks went on to predict that Trump's indictment will further embolden him and his supporters and that the Democrats will come to realize that it was "a political mistake on their part."

"Also keep in mind, Tony, that it is a federal crime to use the Justice Department to try to block someone from becoming the nominee of their party," Banks continued, adding that "there are so many angles of this that I believe are going to play out for years."

INDIANA REP. JIM BANKS LAUNCHES 2024 SENATE RUN, HIGHLIGHTS RECORD AS ‘CONSERVATIVE FIGHTER’

"It is obvious to the American people – you can count on this – it is obvious to the American people that these charges are politically timed, they're political in nature. We've become used to these types of activities from the left against Donald Trump, and he's going to fight back, and I believe he's going to win," he said.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN RAISES STAGGERING AMOUNT IN 48 HOURS AFTER INDICTMENT NEWS: REPORT

Trump, who endorsed Banks for his 2024 Senate run in Indiana, raked in more than $5 million in campaign donations within 48 hours of his indictment last Thursday.

Trump is expected to appear in court Tuesday in New York City over allegations that he gave hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 to keep her quiet ahead of that year’s presidential election amid her claims the two had a sexual encounter years earlier.

The former president has denied sleeping with Daniels or falsifying business records to keep the payment concealed.