Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a veteran lawmaker with some influence in GOP circles, suggested yesterday that his party shouldn’t bother trying to discredit Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The advice was quickly ignored — even among other senators.
“This district attorney is in office because of Mr. Soros, his political support,” said Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, peddling a lazy partisan line. Around the same time, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri suggested to NBC News that he has concocted a new hush money conspiracy theory of his own: “My view is if we’re going to look at people getting paid hush money, I mean, I assume next we’ll be looking at whatever China’s paid the Biden family in hush money.”
But it was Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky who really pushed the envelope. The Hill reported:
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday suggested that the Manhattan district attorney “should be put in jail” amid anticipation that former President Trump could be hit with an indictment today as prosecutors probe payments made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. “A Trump indictment would be a disgusting abuse of power. The DA should be put in jail,” Paul tweeted.
Several hours after publishing his social media message, Paul had an opportunity to walk it back. He declined. When a CNN reporter asked what law Bragg was breaking that should put him behind bars, Paul simply said, “I think we’ll stick with just what we tweeted out if you want to report that.”
This past weekend, as part of his I’m-rubber-you’re-glue shtick, Donald Trump tried to argue that it was the Manhattan district attorney investigating the former president’s alleged crimes who should be considered the real criminal. Evidently, the junior senator from Kentucky is thinking along the same lines.
Donald Trump investigations: Follow our live blog for the latest updates and expert analysis on potential indictments.
The obvious problem with Paul’s pitch is that it’s plainly ridiculous. Indeed, Bragg hasn’t actually indicted the former president, at least not yet. The New York prosecutor has empaneled a grand jury and collected evidence — none of which has been seen or evaluated by Senate Republicans.
It’s against this backdrop that Paul hasn’t just denounced the investigation, he also has called for the incarceration of the elected prosecutor for reasons he hasn’t explained.
But the less obvious problem with the GOP lawmaker’s message is the underlying irony. Take another look at his published message: “A Trump indictment would be a disgusting abuse of power. The DA should be put in jail.”
Did it not occur to Paul that the first sentence was at odds with the second? Did he not notice that putting a district attorney behind bars for potentially filing an evidence-based indictment, as part of a case that has already sent someone else to prison, would itself be “a disgusting abuse of power”?
