U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman is pulling no punches in sticking up for former President Donald Trump, who endorsed and campaigned for her last year in a landslide win over former congresswoman Liz Cheney.
Now that Trump is the subject of multiple investigations and says he’s on the brink of being indicted, Hageman says the efforts of a New York City district attorney investigating him are nothing more than a witch hunt.
“What we are witnessing in NYC and across the country is a two-tiered justice system, the kind often only seen in third world countries at the behest of dictators and despots,” the Wyoming Republican said in a Monday afternoon press release.
Over the weekend, Trump said on social media he expected to be arrested Tuesday in connection with his role in a $130,000 payoff in alleged hush money to former porn star Stormy Daniels and called on his supporters to protest in response, writing: “Protest, take our nation back.”
A grand jury in New York City has been meeting to investigate Trump’s role in a scheme to pay money during the lead up to his 2016 presidential campaign to Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair the two had. Trump’s ex-attorney Michael Cohen has admitted to paying $130,000 to Daniels.
Political, Not Criminal
Another member of Wyoming’s delegation, U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, said she’s also concerned the charges are politically motivated.
“Previous prosecutors have walked away from this issue, knowing that high-profile, wealthy people like Donald Trump deal with matters such as this like a nuisance lawsuit,” she said in a statement to Cowboy State Daily. “They protect family and reputation by paying for the silence of the accuser, regardless of the voracity of the allegations.
“New York continues to be plagued by violent crime, so it begs the question why the (George) Soros-funded DA (district attorney) is so focused on former President Trump. This thing smells bad.”
The district attorney prosecuting Trump’s case received $1 million from a political action committee funded by billionaire George Soros.
Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels and says the probe by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, is politically motivated.
Hageman agrees.
“During his short tenure, D.A. Alvin Bragg has downgraded 52% of all felony cases, including violent crimes, to misdemeanors and declined to prosecute 35% more felony cases than New York City prosecuted in 2019,” Hageman said.
“Despite these ghastly statistics, the prosecution – perhaps the persecution – of Donald Trump was what Bragg promised on the campaign trail – the woke politicization of the New York City District Attorney’s office.”
According to CNN, the Manhattan DA’s office has signaled it is closing in on a decision on whether to indict the former president, but a decision is not expected to come Tuesday.
In the event of an arrest, Trump’s Secret Service detail would deliver him to the DA’s office for fingerprinting and mugshots.
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, did not respond to multiple Cowboy State Daily requests for comment on the issue.
Jan. 6 Revisited?
Some of Trump’s critics have drawn a comparison between his call to protest a potential arrest and his appeals made to supporters in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, repeatedly urging them to reject the results of the election, which culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
A spokesperson for Bragg said the district attorney’s team “will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process, nor will we let baseless accusations deter us from fairly applying the law.”
According to CNN, federal, state and local law enforcement met Monday to discuss planning for a potential arrest.
Hageman was endorsed by Trump in her 2022 campaign against former congresswoman Liz Cheney, who was an outspoken critic of the former president due to his allegations the 2020 election was fraudulent. Trump hosted a rally on Hageman’s behalf in Casper last May, attended by more than 10,000 people. Last month, she endorsed him in his 2024 presidential campaign.
Weaponization Committee
Hageman is a member of the House Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government.
The subcommittee, led by Republican Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, will focus on the actions of the FBI, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies in various political matters in recent years.
“I look forward to taking part in hearings held by the Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government as we investigate the federal laws Mr. Bragg and other Soros funded district attorneys may have violated in their quest to quash their perceived political adversaries,” Hageman said.
On Monday, Jordan said on Fox News that House Republican leadership has sent a letter to Bragg, demanding that he testify about the prosecution of Trump and any potential federal involvement in the matter. Jordan said Bragg was reticent to bring charges against Trump originally but has since changed his stance.
“The one thing I think has changed his mind is President Trump announced he was going to run for president again and suddenly here they go, now they’re coming after him for some alleged bookkeeping error? You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jordan said.
