Rep. Elise Stefanik (RN.Y.) on Friday ripped into the New York court case, calling it “corrupt to the core” following former President Trump’s hush money conviction.
“We are seeing the illegal weaponization of our courts and radical district attorneys like Alvin Bragg, going after Joe Biden’s main political opponent, which is Donald J. Trump,” Stefanik said during a speech Friday at the Faith & Freedom Conference.
Trump was found guilty last month on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide alleged affairs during his 2016 campaign. The case was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), who has been repeatedly accused by Republicans of unfairly attacking Trump ahead of the 2024 elections.
Stefanik repeated some of those claims on Friday, claiming the case was a “form of election interference” that was “illegal” and “unconstitutional.”
“We must do everything we can as the American people to ensure that we restore equal justice under the law, that we stand up against this radicalization, this corruption of our courts,” she said.
Stefanik praised the ethics complaints she filed against Bragg and mentioned the “corrupt” jury selection process.
“Think about it. It’s so corrupt that in the jury selection process, jurors were asked: Do you follow any of President Donald J. Trump’s social media accounts? If any of them said yes, they wouldn’t be allowed to serve on the jury. They they weren’t asked about Joe Biden,” Stefanik said. “They swore they bought it and then judged they bought it illegally.”
The New York Republican also went after Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw the trial.
Trump and his defense team tried to force Merchan to recuse himself from the trial, pointing to his daughter’s work with Democratic campaigns and $35 in donations Merchan made to the Biden campaign and two liberal-leaning groups before taking on the case. .
“The fact that this is a judge who donated to Joe Biden is corrupt, corrupt to the core!” she joked. “We must save our country at the polls in November. It will be the American people who will save our Constitution, save this country, and fight back.”
Stefanik’s name has been floated as Trump’s potential pick for vice president and has repeatedly defended the former president on Capitol Hill.
Stefanik said she is “honored” to have her name mentioned as part of discussions about Trump’s running mate, but her focus is on working to elect Republicans at the ballot box.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
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