As news hit that former President Donald Trump has been indicted in a secret documents case, Republicans in West Virginia rushed to his public defense.
Most blasted the Biden administration over the historic and politically-charged indictment of a former president. The seven-count indictment has taken shape under special counsel Jack Smith, and grand juries in Washington, D.C., and Florida heard witness testimony.
“The federal indictment of President Donald Trump tonight is a new low, even for Joe Biden’s Justice Department,” stated West Virginia Republican Party Chairwoman Elgine McArdle.
“The United States of America is a Republic, which means that neither the whims of one man nor the passions of a mob, rule our nation. Rather, we are ruled by law. This Justice Department has weaponized the rule of law to hunt and persecute Biden’s political opponents.”
McArdle was one of several West Virginia political figures releasing statements about the indictment in the hours after Trump himself announced it on his Truth Social platform.
Jim Trusty, Trump’s attorney, said on CNN that the former president’s legal team hasn’t yet seen the indictment but received a summons via email. Trusty suggested the charges relate to the Espionage Act, obstruction, retention of documents and false statements. Trump said he’s been told to appear in federal court in Miami at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
The allegations focus on hundreds of documents discovered at the Mar-a-lago resort where Trump lives. Trump is widely considered the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice criticized Trump’s prosecution on Twitter, while also making reference to a federal civil suit filed last week over millions of dollars in surface mining fines owed by his companies’ businesses.
Justice switched parties from Democrat to Republican at a Trump rally in Huntington in 2017. Now Justice is running for a seat in the very narrowly-divided U.S. Senate.
“The Biden Administration and the Democrats know they can’t beat President Trump and me unless they weaponize the federal government. Democrats will stop at nothing to defeat us and keep the presidency and their Senate majority. I will always stand with President Donald Trump!” Justice stated on social media.
Trump was indicted over a separate issue weeks ago by a grand jury in Manhattan on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments from 2016.
Former U.S. attorney Mike Stuart, who ran Trump’s West Virginia campaign in 2016, called the latest indictment “a dark day for America.” Stuart, a former state Republican Party chairman, now serves in the state Senate and is running in the primary for West Virginia Attorney General.
“The ‘Get Trump’ agenda has no bounds,” Stuart wrote on Twitter.
Patrick Morrisey, West Virginia’s current attorney general who is running for governor, recorded a video on social media in support of Trump and making reference to a double standard: “Here we go again with another political prosecution… I think every American (including the other Presidential candidates) should speak out against having two different systems of justice.”
Here we go again with another political prosecution… I think every American (including the other Presidential candidates) should speak out against having two different systems of justice. No double standards! #Trump #TrumpIndictment #Trump2024 pic.twitter.com/Gao7hv5xFh
— Patrick Morrisey (@MorriseyWV) June 9, 2023
Trump remains very popular in West Virginia. Fifty members of the West Virginia Legislature this week signed a letter endorsing Trump’s presidential campaign.
In 2016, Trump got 68.5 percent of the general election vote in West Virginia, to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s 26.4 percent.
In 2020, Trump got 68.6 percent of West Virginia’s general election vote, to Biden’s 29.7 percent.
Congressman Alex Mooney, who is running in a primary election against Justice for U.S. Senate, wrote on social media that “Biden’s DOJ has weaponized our nation’s Justice system and taken us down a dangerous path of no return. Every American should be concerned about this disgusting abuse of power and I am confident that President Donald Trump will prevail in 2024.”
West Virginia’s other Republican congressional representative, Carol Miller, also contended the indictment is politically-motivated.
“I never dreamed that the United States could resemble a banana republic like it is tonight. President Biden is yet again abusing his power to indict the leader of the opposition party in a clear political move to distract from his own crimes,” Miller stated.
“The American people know that this investigation is a farce and that President Trump is being politically targeted.”
West Virginia Democrats responded with their own statement today.
“One thing you won’t see West Virginia Republican leaders do today as they trip over each other to defend Donald Trump against the federal indictment filed yesterday is offer a detailed refutation of the evidence and the charges against him. That’s because they have no defense,” said West Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin, who is also a state delegate.