Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) pushed back against claims by former President Trump and his allies that the hush money trial was politically motivated and aimed at the former president.
Schiff was responding to Republican National Committee (RNC) Co-Chair Lara Trump’s appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” in which she criticized prosecutors and the judge presiding over the hush-money lawsuit against the former president, who was convicted by a New York jury last week of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
“First, regarding Lara Trump’s interview and her complaints about being tried in New York before a New York jury, if she doesn’t want to be tried in front of a New York jury, then she shouldn’t have committed so many crimes in New York City. It’s that simple,” he said.
Schiff reiterated that Trump’s case, including jury selection, was proceeding like any other case.
“And that jury was picked in part by Donald Trump and his lawyers. They vetted every single juror. He had every right that every other criminal defendant has in court. And they found that this ordinary jury found him guilty on every count,” Schiff said.
“If you don’t want to be tried in New York, don’t commit a crime in New York. But he received the same due process as any other human being, and that’s just the way it should be,” he added.
His comments echo those of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Following the verdict Last Thursday, he stressed that this case is like any other and “the only voice that matters is the voice of the jury.”
“While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we approached this case the same way we approach every case that comes before our courts, and that ultimately leads to this verdict today: we followed the facts and the law without fear or favoritism,” Bragg said.
