Republicans on Sunday talk shows call indictment of Trump 'political persecution'

High-profile Republicans on Sunday doubled down on the notion that the indictment of former President Donald Trump is “political persecution,” with several suggesting the criminal case will only rally supporters around his 2024 presidential bid.

Trump is expected to turn himself in at Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday on charges connected to hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. The case remains sealed and the exact charges are not yet known, but talk of how the process will play out dominated the Sunday political talk shows.

Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said the charges were a “case of political persecution” and that they were brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg because Trump is running for president.

Tacopina said he believes Bragg’s office has taken what would amount to misdemeanor charges no longer prosecutable due to exceeding the associated statute of limitations and “had to cobble them together to try and get a felony.”

“We will take the indictment. We will dissect it. The team will look at every potential issue that we will be able to challenge, and we will challenge,” he told host Dana Bash. “I very much anticipate a motion to dismiss coming, because there's no law that fits this.”

Trump ally and former Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin of Shirley called it highly unusual that a Manhattan district attorney would bring charges tied to federal campaign finance violations. Zeldin, who campaigned for governor on removing Bragg from office, said the charges probably wouldn’t “pass the smell test” and would serve only to bolster Trump’s presidential bid.

“I think that, by the way, as far as the Republican primary goes, it probably will make Donald Trump even stronger,” Zeldin said on CBS News' “The Point with Marcia Kramer.” “And pending on how this process plays out, it could even end up making Donald Trump stronger for the general election.”

Former Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance also made the rounds and touched on the reasons why his office did not prosecute the charges, which he said included being asked by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to stand down as well as pandemic-related delays.

Vance, speaking on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” did not speculate directly on the strength of the current case, but warned Trump against attacking Bragg, which he suggested could result in new charges. Trump's rhetoric has escalated in the past few weeks and he has warned of "potential death & destruction" over charges.

“If I were his lawyer — and believe me, no one has called up to ask for my advice — I would be mindful of not committing some other criminal offense, like obstruction of governmental administration, which is interfering with, by threat or otherwise, the operation of government,” Vance told host Chuck Todd.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who admitted he is mulling his own presidential run, took a stance somewhere between the dominant Republican viewpoint and that of other Democrats who say that being a former president should not exempt Trump from legal prosecution.

“No one's above the law, but no one should be targeted by the law,” Manchin said on “Meet the Press.”

Former Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson called on Trump to drop out of the presidential race as Hutchinson himself announced his 2024 presidential bid.

“I think it's a sad day for America that we have a former president that's indicted,” Hutchinson said on ABC News' “This Week.” “And so, it's a great distraction.”

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.