Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C., told Newsmax Monday that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case to charge former President Donald Trump with a crime is "an abuse of authority."
"It's an incredible abuse of authority by the Manhattan D.A.," Timmons said during "American Agenda" Monday. "These charges have been leveled against President Trump for years, and now there's a contrived legal argument to create a justification for indictments.
"It's just outrageous and it's bad for the country; it is bad for the rule of law. It sends a bad message to our allies abroad that we no longer have this strong rule of law that people have aligned with the United States for decades and decades, so that's a problem."
The Democrat district attorney has led a grand jury that could be poised to issue an indictment against the former president regarding a $130,000 payment in 2016 to porn star Stormy Daniels as "hush money" to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump, Fortune reported Monday.
According to the report, law enforcement officials in New York are doing preliminary security work should Trump be indicted and arrested.
Over the weekend, Trump criticized Bragg and called for protests if he were arrested on the charges, which would mark the first time a current or former president has been charged with a crime.
In a memo to his staff, Bragg said Trump, and media outlets criticizing the case, were trying to "intimidate" the office and his prosecution of the case.
"We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York," Fortune reported Bragg writing in the memo.
Timmons said that Democrats in Congress including Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., have called for "thousands" of protests over different issues, creating an obvious "double standard."
"The double standard is everywhere," Timmons said. "At the end of the day, the outcome is going to be simple. This is a joke, the charges are ridiculous, and they will never result in a conviction."
Timmons compared the persecution of Trump to what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced between his terms, with the former administration and judiciary in that country going after him, before he won the position again.
"At the end of the day, our country cares about peace, safety, [and] security, and we do not have that," Timmons said "Our president can't walk up stairs. We are weak abroad. Our allies do not trust us. Our enemies don't fear us.
"We're on the brink of World War III. This is all nonsense. It's just a distraction. The American people want to continue pursuing the American dream, and this president that we currently have, President Joe Biden is killing that American dream, and President Trump will revive it. Bring it back, and hopefully the best days are ahead of us."
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