WASHINGTON (WWNY) – The north country’s representatives in the U.S. House had harsh words for the Manhattan district attorney whose efforts led to the indictment of former president Donald Trump.
Republicans Claudia Tenney and Elise Stefanik both released statements after Trump’s legal team announced the former president had been indicted.
Stefanik, who arose as a staunch Trump supporter in his first impeachment hearings in 2019, called the DA in the case “corrupt Socialist District Attorney Alvin Bragg,” who she said was on “a political witch hunt.”
Tenney called the case “outrageous” and a “political persecution with purely malicious intent.”
Full statements from both representatives are below. Tenney represents much of Jefferson County. Stefanik represents St. Lawrence County, Lewis County, and the rest of Jefferson County.
The indictment is sealed, so the charges won’t be known until Trump’s expected arraignment next week.
A grand jury has been hearing testimony over hush money allegedly paid to former porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had an affair with Trump.
Stefanik’s statement:
“The unprecedented election interference from corrupt Socialist District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a political witch-hunt and a dark day for America. The radical Far Left will stop at nothing to persecute Joe Biden’s chief political opponent ahead of the 2024 presidential election to suppress the will and voice of the American people.
“Tens of millions of patriotic Americans have never been so energized to exercise their constitutional rights to peacefully organize and VOTE at the ballot box to save our great republic by electing President Donald J. Trump in 2024.”
Tenney’s statement:
“Soros-backed District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s witch-hunt targeting President Donald Trump is a political persecution with purely malicious intent. Bragg has repeatedly allowed violent criminals to walk the streets, downgrading 52% of felony charges to misdemeanors. Yet now he has decided to spend precious taxpayer dollars and resources on this outrageous case against Donald Trump, and only after he announced he was running for president.
“Every American should be concerned about this gross abuse of power and the politicized two-tiered system of justice we now have in America. I once again call on Governor Kathy Hochul to act. Uphold the rule of law and remove Alvin Bragg from office for, among other things, his failure to enforce the law and his blatant politicization of the criminal justice system.”
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