Our Constitution provides ample remedies for the problems facing our Nation. Instead of waiting for the impending indictment of Donald Trump by the New York County District Attorney, our elected representatives can and should act swiftly to smoke out how improper this prosecution is.
Prosecuting attorneys enjoy enormous discretion to bring charges to grand juries, who are willing to indict even a “ham sandwich” upon request. But if a county prosecutor is allowed to indict the leading presidential candidate from the opposing party, our national elections would no longer be democratic.
On Monday the chairmen of the House Judiciary Committee and two other House committees signed and sent a letter to the New York County D.A., Alvin Bragg, demanding information about the unprecedented charges concocted against Trump. This letter led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) states “we expect that you will testify about what plainly appears to be a politically motivated prosecutorial decision.”
Bragg has reportedly based his charges on an incident that was well known to the Americans who elected Trump in 2016 and voted for him again in 2020. Other prosecutors who had already examined the same widely publicized facts found them not to be criminal, yet this Democrat D.A. has dredged up ancient history in an obvious effort to impede Trump’s reelection in 2024.
While Bragg wastes his time trying to prosecute a former president for his non-criminal conduct, Senator JD Vance (R-OH) recently tweeted that he “allows violent criminals to walk the streets of New York City.” Referring to George Soros and his funded prosecutors like Alvin Bragg, Sen. Vance says “these people are trying to turn America into a third-world country.”
Our Constitution provides ways to respond, as it always does, by vesting the most power in the House of Representatives. That body can and should compel testimony and the production of emails by the rogue prosecutor’s office before it interferes with our upcoming presidential election.
The Speech or Debate Clause found in Article I of the Constitution confers broad immunity on House leaders and their staffs to take effective action to protect the integrity of our presidential election against such wanton interference. One Soros-funded prosecutor cannot properly hold our entire country hostage to a politically motivated indictment.
Last year the D.C. federal courts even expanded the power of the House to demand compliance with its subpoenas, in order to help the J6 Committee investigate Trump supporters. What was good for the goose then is good for the gander now, as the Republican majority should churn out subpoenas to investigate every nook and cranny of this retaliation by Democrats against Trump.
“Investigate the investigators” Trump truthed on Sunday on his Truth Social platform, where Trump has posted messages nearly hourly in recent days. Instead of campaigning for president as he should be allowed to do, Trump is forced to respond to a bogus indictment by a Democrat county prosecutor.
This sham indictment was immediately condemned by one of the lesser-known Republican presidential candidates, Vivek Ramaswamy. He criticized Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, who were slow in condemning Democrats’ misuse of prosecutorial power and failed to defend Trump.
The New York City prosecutor “should be held accountable for the crime of ‘interference in a presidential election,’” Trump truthed on his Truth Social platform Sunday night. Biden’s Department of Justice is filled with Trump-haters, so the responsibility of providing a necessary check-and-balance on this abuse of power falls on the Republican House of Representatives.
“Remember, the same animals and thugs that would do this to perhaps 200 million people … are the communists, Marxists, RINOs, and losers that are purposefully destroying our country,” Trump added. House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) truthed on Trump’s platform, “The two-tiered justice system in America is fully on display” with this prosecution of Trump.
Coincidentally, the House Republicans have been convening in Florida for their annual House Republican Issues Conference. Atop their agenda should be how to protect the leading Republican candidate for president from what a county prosecutor is doing right now to Trump.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who has already shown his effectiveness by standing strong against raising the debt ceiling, asked House committees to review what federal funding goes to county prosecutors who are interfering with national candidates like this. While that is a good first step, more is needed to protect our presidential elections against county prosecutors.
The House should immediately conduct a full investigation into who is pushing for an outdated assertion of discredited charges against Trump, even as presidential debates are set to begin in less than five months. The silver lining is that the American people may finally realize how prosecutions are increasingly being weaponized for political gain.
John and Andy Schlafly are sons of Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016) and lead the continuing Phyllis Schlafly Eagles organizations with writing and policy work.
