See How the G.O.P. Has Reacted to the Trump Indictment
The reactions from Republicans in Congress to former President Donald J. Trump’s indictment on charges related to his handling of sensitive documents have ranged from rare acknowledgments that the former president may have, in fact, committed a crime to more extreme — and more common — statements comparing the United States under the Biden administration to a banana republic or a dictatorship.
Of the 271 Republicans in the House and Senate, more than half have issued formal statements or posted comments on social media about the new charges facing Mr. Trump.
According to an analysis by The New York Times, a small number of Republicans have made statements about the indictment that did not immediately dismiss the investigation.
“I am shocked at the alleged callousness of how these documents were handled,” read part of a statement from Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska. “They should not have been stored in his home and should have been completely handed over when the government requested.”
At least 100 Republicans, from across the party’s ideological spectrum, have questioned the circumstances around the indictment, the timing of its release or a perceived unfairness in how the law has been applied. Many of these statements mention accusations against President Biden. Some stop short of attacking the content of the indictment itself.
“Many officials, from Secretary Hillary Clinton to then-Senator Joe Biden, handled classified info after their time in office & were never charged,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy wrote in a tweet. “Now Biden’s leading political opponent is indicted—a double standard that must be investigated.”
A similar number of lawmakers have attacked the motivation behind the special counsel’s investigation, saying that the Justice Department has been weaponized to pursue Mr. Trump or that the indictment represents political persecution.
“This indictment is yet another unprecedented move by Biden’s Department of Justice, and the American people know that it is weaponization of the federal government at the highest level,” a statement from Representative Daniel Webster of Florida read in part.
Almost two dozen of the officials went further, calling either the investigation or the indictment phony, garbage, a hoax, a sham, a farce or a witch hunt.
“This sham indictment is the continuation of the endless political persecution of Donald Trump,” Representative Steve Scalise, the House majority leader, tweeted.
In at least 19 cases, legislators have claimed that the indictment amounts to election interference on behalf of Mr. Biden. Mr. Trump is currently the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“President Biden’s DOJ is attempting to put his political opposition behind bars – this is election interference at the highest level and an attack on our justice system,” Representative Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee wrote on Twitter.
And at least 33 members have wielded even more extreme rhetoric, comparing the United States to an autocratic or otherwise undemocratic country with terms like “banana republic,” “third world” and “authoritarian.”
“The Biden administration’s actions can only be compared to the type of oppressive tactics routinely seen in nations such as Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua, which are absolutely alien and unacceptable in America,” read part of a statement that Senator Mike Lee of Utah posted on Twitter.
The Justice Department has traditionally operated independently from the White House, and Mr. Biden has said he will never interfere with that independence. The special counsel behind the indictment, Jack Smith, was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, and President Biden said last week that he had not spoken with Mr. Garland about the investigation and would not do so.
Mr. Garland also appointed a special counsel to investigate classified documents found in Mr. Biden’s possession late last year and early this year, as well as another prosecutor to look into the financial dealings of Mr. Biden’s son Hunter.
Though Mr. Biden’s handling of documents was frequently compared to Mr. Trump’s by Republicans seeking to downplay Mr. Trump’s indictment, significant differences exist between the two cases. Mr. Trump worked to conceal boxes of sensitive documents from investigators, according to the indictment, while Mr. Biden’s own lawyers found the classified papers and reported their discovery to officials.
Methodology
This accounting includes official statements released on the lawmakers’ websites or to news media outlets, as well as posts on Twitter (including retweets and quote tweets) and interviews to which members of Congress linked on their Twitter or YouTube pages. It does not account for news media interviews that were not promoted directly by lawmakers. Ideology placements are based on DW-NOMINATE scores, which are calculated from congressional votes.
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