Republicans rage against Jack Smith after latest indictment of Donald Trump over 2020 election conspiracy

Republicans raged in response to the news that a grand jury indicted former president Donald Trump for a third time in a year, calling for his office to be defunded and saying that the investigation was politically motivated.

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) led Republicans’ charge against Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office amid news that a federal grand jury had indicted former president Donald Trump on four charges for violating federal criminal code.

Ms Greene posted on X, former known as Twitter, that Mr Smith’s office should be defunded amid the news of the indictment.

“Jack Smith is a terrible attorney with a lot of failures in his career,” she posted. “Now, he’s abusing his power, the power of the special counsel, and the power of the Department of Injustice.”

In addition, Ms Greene said that she would invoke the Holman rule, which prohibits appropriations for “for any expenditure not previously authorized by law.”

Rep Matt Gaetz (R-FL) echoed the sentiment.

“DEFUND JACK SMITH'S WITCH HUNT AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP!” he said.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who previously said that Mr Trump bore responsibility for the riot on January 6, said that the indictment was meant to distract from House Republicans’ investigations into President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

“Everyone in America could see what was going to come next: DOJ’s attempt to distract from the news and attack the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, President Trump,” she said. “House Republicans will continue to uncover the truth about Biden Inc. and the two-tiered system of justice.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) also spoke out against the charges.

“When you drain The Swamp, The Swamp fights back,” he said. “President Trump did nothing wrong!”

Rep Lauren Boebert (R-CO) said Mr Trump was the victim of a double standard and said that Mr Biden should be investigated.

“We've become completely accustomed to seeing President Trump indicted for ‘crimes’ while Joe Biden skirts the law every single day,” she posted on X. “No politically-motivated indictment is going to change my mind. TRUMP 2024 NOW MORE THAN EVER.”

Sen Josh Hawley (R-MO), who led the efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election results on January 6, called the efforts politically motivated.

“Biden DOJ unveils the latest effort to stop Trump from running against Biden - totally unprecedented in American history,” he said.

Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, who trails Mr Trump in nearly every poll for the Republican nomination for president, pledged to end the “weaponisation” of government, though Mr DeSantis said he had not read the indictment.

“I do, though, believe we need to enact reforms so that Americans have the right to remove cases from Washington, DC to their home districts,” he said. “Washington, DC is a ‘swamp’ and it is unfair to have to stand trial before a jury that is reflective of the swamp mentality. One of the reasons our country is in decline is the politicization of the rule of law. No more excuses—I will end the weaponization of the federal government.”

Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy reiterated his commitment to pardoning Mr Trump were he to be elected.

“The real cause was systematic & pervasive censorship of citizens in the year leading up to it,” he said. “If we fail to admit the truth, Jan 6 will just be a preview of far worse to come & I don’t want to see us get there.”

The now twice-impeached, three-times indicted former president has maintained his innocence and said that the investigation is politicised.

“This is nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election, in which President Trump is the undisputed frontrunner, and leading by substantial margins,” the campaign said in a statement.