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Youngkin: Trump indictment is 'for pure political gain' - Richmond Times-Dispatch

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, took to social media Thursday night to condemn the unprecedented indictment of former President Donald Trump and the Manhattan prosecutor who filed the charges.

“It is beyond belief that District Attorney Alvin Bragg has indicted a former president and current presidential candidate for pure political gain. Arresting a presidential candidate on a manufactured basis should not happen in America,” the Republican governor said.

Virginia political leaders lined up late Thursday to react to the news that a grand jury voted to indict Trump, the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been criminally prosecuted. The charges involve payments made during Trump’s 2016 campaign to quash claims of two extramarital affairs.

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Trump, who is running for reelection in 2024, has denied any wrongdoing.

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the indictment shows that “no one is above the law, and President Trump will have to defend himself in the court.”

“All legal proceedings should be fair and impartial and follow the facts,” added Kaine, who was former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate in her failed presidential campaign against Trump in 2016.

Said U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va.: “This is a somber and unprecedented moment for our country. Everyone is entitled to due process, but no one is above the law.”

House Minority Leader Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth, said, “I just feel it’s an important day for our democracy. Nobody is above the law.”

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin walks into the House of Delegates to deliver his State of the Commonwealth speech during a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly on Jan. 11.

“Republicans here in Virginia must answer the question of whether they’re going to continue to stand by Trump and his conspiracy theories, or they’re going to stand for the rule of law,” said Scott, an attorney. “How much longer are they going to continue to support him?”

Trump is expected to turn himself in to authorities next week. Bragg’s office said it had contacted the former president’s lawyer to coordinate his surrender.

Trump, whose Virginia holdings include the Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, on Saturday called the New York grand jury investigation a political attack.

“You will be vindicated and proud,” Trump said during a rally in Waco, Texas. “The thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited and totally disgraced.”

GOP officials said the Republican is the target of a Democratic prosecutor.

House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, said “America’s slide down the slippery slope to banana republic territory is on full display today.”

“The indictment of former President Trump is political revenge, nothing more. All Americans should be deeply concerned. If a prosecutor can play this fast and loose with the criminal justice system in order to arrest a former president he simply doesn’t like, then our entire political system is in peril,” he said.

State Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, a longtime Trump supporter who was censured by the Virginia Senate after speaking in support of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol after the election of President Joe Biden, said Thursday: “It seems unfair ... going after the president when they’re not asking about Biden and his son is going to raise eyebrows.”

Also being closely watched is the impact of the indictment on the 2024 presidential contest.

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President Donald Trump speaks in July 2019 during a commemoration in Jamestown of the 400th anniversary of the Virginia General Assembly.

In a Roanoke College poll of Republicans earlier this month, 39% said Trump would be their top pick for president. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had 28%, and Youngkin had 6%, although neither has officially entered the race.

When asked about whether he’s considering a run, Youngkin has repeatedly said he’s “very humbled” by the question and that he’s focused on Virginia. He appeared this month in a town hall on CNN and recently met with donors in New York and Texas.

In November, Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform about Youngkin: “I Endorsed him, did a very big Trump Rally for him telephonically, got MAGA to Vote for him — or he couldn’t have come close to winning. But he knows that, and admits it. Besides, having a hard time with the Dems in Virginia — But he’ll get it done!”

Youngkin in a separate social media post Thursday said: “The left’s continued attempts to weaponize our judicial system erode people’s faith in the American justice system and it needs to stop.”

Shaun Kenney, former executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia and an outspoken GOP critic of the former president, also said he’s concerned about what the indictment signals.

“I am no apologist for this man, but some small part of me worries that this indictment is more political than process,” Kenney said. “There are a lot of very angry people on the right tonight, and that bothers me tremendously.”

Michael Martz (804) 649-6964

mmartz@timesdispatch.com

@mmartzrtd on Twitter

Michael Martz (804) 649-6964

mmartz@timesdispatch.com

@mmartzrtd on Twitter

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