Republican lawmakers fume over Trump indictment, accuse Biden admin of political motivations

Republican lawmakers on Thursday raged against the Biden administration following former President Donald Trump's announcement that he had been indicted and ordered to report to the Miami federal courthouse network to face charges.

The case appears to stem from special counsel Jack Smith's investigation and to involve Trump's alleged mishandling of classified materials. FBI agents raided Trump's estate in August of last year seeking classified documents he may have taken from the White House. Prior to the raid, Trump voluntarily cooperated with a grand jury subpoena and surrendered some documents. He has maintained his innocence and insisted that, as president, he enjoyed sweeping powers to declassify documents, including those in his possession at his Florida estate.

Vance acknowledged that argument in a Thursday tweet lamenting the development, saying "[t]he former president will be indicted for 'mishandling' his own government’s classified info."

"Yet everyone agrees the president has the authority to declassify anything. This is a moral and constitutional joke. Merrick Garland has disgraced this country," he continued. "Biden is attacking his most likely 2024 opponent. He’s using the justice system to preemptively steal the 2024 election. This is what’s happening, plain and simple."

Trump endorsed Vance's 2022 Senate bid and the pair remain close political allies. Other Republican Senators condemned the indictment, including Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who called the Biden administration "the most corrupt in American history."

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio also lent his voice to accusations of the case's political motivations, saying "[t]here is no limit to what these people will do to protect their power & destroy those who threaten it, even if it means ripping our country apart & shredding public faith in the institutions that hold our republic together."

Even Trump's Republican rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, voiced concerns over apparently one-sided justice system disproportionately pursuing Republicans over Democrats.

"The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society," DeSantis said. "We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation. Why so zealous in pursuing Trump yet so passive about Hillary or Hunter?"

He stopped shy of directly sympathizing with Trump, however, and merely vowed to curb DOJ abuses should he win the presidency instead.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.