It can seem at times that former President Donald Trump stands alone in the face of multiple criminal indictments from Democratic prosecutors amid other concerted efforts led by the political left to try and ensure that he is never again elected to be the president of the United States.
Trump has not been entirely abandoned by his fellow Republicans, however, as several House GOP members have launched multiple efforts of their own to help defend the former president from the Democrat-supported attacks against him, according to The Hill.
Those defensive efforts include, to varying degrees, attempts to federally defund the anti-Trump prosecutors, to flip the script and investigate the investigators, to impeach President Joe Biden, and to expunge Trump's two prior impeachments from the congressional record.
"I am absolutely eyeing ways to push back on the indictments, especially when they’re being weaponized for political purposes," Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) told The Hill.
The congressman made note of the oddly repeated coincidence this year in that a new or amended indictment against Trump has been announced within days of the unveiling of new and damning information against President Biden or his son Hunter Biden, and added, "Why is it always one day after that’s uncovered, they try to indict the president and their top political opponent?"
Mills is supportive of the growing momentum toward opening a formal impeachment inquiry against the sitting president, something that some GOP members have been anxious to get underway for some time but have been held back by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) -- though he himself has increasingly signaled in recent weeks that such an inquiry into alleged criminal corruption and wrongdoing by Biden and his family could soon be launched as soon as this month.
One of the main avenues for the House GOP to help defend former President Trump is by way of defunding the prosecutors who have indicted him, an effort led and supported by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), who sits on the House Appropriations Committee and has filed amendments to must-pass spending bills that would "prohibit the use of federal funding for the prosecution of any major presidential candidate prior to the upcoming presidential election on November 5th, 2024."
"The power of the purse is the most formidable tool that Congress has to combat the weaponization of our justice system," Clyde told The Hill. "Given the Left’s egregious election interference efforts, it’s essential that we effectively use this power to protect the integrity of our elections, restore Americans’ faith in our government, and dismantle our nation’s two-tiered system of justice."
Similar amendments or stand-alone legislation has been previously filed by other House Republicans, to mixed reception from the GOP, but Clyde explained the difference between those prior efforts and his current attempt to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in New York, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia.
"I’ve had numerous positive conversations about my efforts with members across our Conference, and I will continue discussing my amendments with my colleagues to ensure we’re successful in adding these measures to the base bill," he said. "Addressing the weaponization and politicization of our judicial system should be a top priority for all House Republicans, which is why I’m confident that we can garner enough support to get this done for the American people and the future of our Republic."
Speaking of the "weaponization and politicization" of the U.S. judicial system, The Hill reported that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has launched a series of congressional probes that are clearly aimed at investigating the investigators, so to speak, to force accountability and transparency on those who have targeted former President Trump.
That includes probes looking into the August 2022 FBI raid of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, demand for documents and testimony from DA Bragg, allegations of coordination between DA Willis and Special Counsel Smith, and allegations that Smith's top prosecutor was involved in suspiciously timed White House meetings.
Finally, The Hill noted that some House Republicans are pursuing a purely symbolic effort to defend Trump by way of expunging his two prior impeachments from the official congressional record.
House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) introduced a resolution in June to expunge Trump's first impeachment in December 2019, related to his prescient probing for Biden dirt in Ukraine, while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a resolution to expunge Trump's second impeachment in January 2021, related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
