Former Vice President Mike Pence called the Manhattan grand jury’s decision to indict former President Trump over a campaign finance issue an “outrage” in an interview that aired Thursday night with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
Pence, who will face his former boss in the GOP primary if he decides to run for president, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is investigating Trump for alleged money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. “Political Prosecution” appears.
Pence said, “I think the unprecedented indictment of a former President of the United States on a campaign finance issue is an outrage.”
In a historic development on Thursday, Trump became the first former US president to face criminal charges. The allegations relate to payments of $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and $150,000 to a former Playboy model. Karen McDougall,
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Former Vice President Mike Pence said the criminal indictment of former President Trump is an “outrage”. (Diya Dipasupil/Getty Images)
pay hush money The payments made to both McDougall and Daniels were disclosed and reported by Fox News in 2018. Those payments were investigated by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Federal Election Commission.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York dropped out of charging Trump in 2019 related to the Stormy Daniels payment, even as Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen accused him of making an illegal campaign contribution as part of his plea deal. framed as. Cohen claims that he arranged those payments to McDougal and Daniels at Trump’s behest. The Federal Election Commission also shied away from investigating the matter in 2021. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
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A Manhattan grand jury voted Thursday to indict former President Trump after investigating District Attorney Alvin Bragg into alleged secret money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and called the investigation a “witch hunt”. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s office of the Supreme Court indictment as charged,” a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Thursday. “Guidance will be provided on selection of date of objection.”
Reactions to Trump’s impeachment have mostly fallen on predictably partisan lines. Republicans have expressed various forms of outrage. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., accused Bragg of doing irreparable harm to the nation and said he had “weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump.” Democrats welcomed the long-coming criminal charges, with Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the leading Democrat in Trump’s first impeachment trial, saying the charges were justified.
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A spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said in a statement Thursday, “This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan DA’s office to face charges in the Supreme Court indictment.” ” “Guidance will be provided on selection of date of objection.” (Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
“If justice demands that Michael Cohen go to prison for a scheme directed by someone else, then justice also requires that the person responsible for directing the scheme must answer for his crimes against the law – and that The person is Donald Trump,” Schiff said.
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Pence said accusing Trump was “a disservice to the country” and warned that the allegations would divide Americans, noting that millions still support Trump.
“I think the American people will look at this and see this as another example of the criminalization of politics in this country,” he said.
Fox News’ Brooke Syngman and Marta Dhanis contributed to this report.
Chris Pandolfo is a writer for Fox News Digital. Send suggestions to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @ChrisCPandolfo.
Source: www.foxnews.com
