A Republican attorney general has issued a warning to President-elect Donald Trump's prosecutors, asking them to stop “political prosecutions of the president-elect.”
“The lawsuits brought against President Trump, especially the criminal charges, had nothing to do with any crime,” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Byrd said in an interview on Fox News Digital this week.
“They had everything to do with the fact that he's running for president again. He's innocent. He did nothing wrong and those lawsuits should never have been filed in the first place. That was another way they were trying to violate the Wage Campaign Act. ”
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Iowa Attorney General Brenna Byrd speaks during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 16, 2024. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP) ) (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
Byrd, along with more than 20 other attorneys general, sent a letter to Special Counsel Jack Smith, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, and Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis to avoid the risk of a “constitutional crisis.” requested that the lawsuit be dropped. . ”
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, The attorneys general of South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia signed the letter.
“Mr. Smith, a federal court has dismissed your claims in an existing case based on your improper appointment,” the AGs wrote in the letter. “That appointment ignores both the Appointments Clause and Article II of the U.S. Constitution. Not only that, but the prosecution of President Trump, a political rival of President Biden and Vice President Harris, violates multiple Department of Justice policies. is in violation.”
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Former President Donald Trump, then Republican presidential candidate, speaks at a campaign event in Mint Hill, North Carolina, Wednesday, September 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
“The President of the United States is the most important job in the world,” they wrote. “The President leads the free world, and the United States has just given President Trump the mandate to lead America to a brighter future. Prosecution for the purpose of 'self-promotion' is never appropriate.”
Ministry of Justice Trump announced on Wednesday that he is seeking to wind down two federal criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his second term.
Trump was indicted in June 2023 on a 37-count federal indictment stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Trump was indicted in georgia He was arrested in August 2023 after a years-long criminal investigation led by state prosecutors on charges of attempting to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election.
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis holds a press conference at the Fulton County Government Center after a grand jury indicts former President Donald Trump and 18 others on August 14, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images)
In early 2023, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed six of the charges against Trump, saying District Attorney Fani Willis had failed to provide sufficient detail. The situation then descended into chaos when it was revealed that Willis reportedly had an “improper relationship” with Nathan Wade, the prosecutor he hired to build the case against Trump. Wade was later fired.
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About three months after taking office, James announced an investigation into the Trump Organization, claiming there was evidence that the president and his companies fraudulently valued assets to obtain loans, insurance coverage and tax breaks. . The investigation began after Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer who served time in federal prison for campaign finance violations, testified before Congress that the Trump Organization had overstated the value of its assets. .
Fox News Digital's Haley Chi-Sing and Emma Colton contributed to this report.
