Three weeks ago today, federal prosecutors filed a superseding indictment in Donald Trump’s classified documents case, and by all appearances, it was quite devastating. In addition to all of the scandalous revelations from the first indictment, the second filing included previously unseen details about an apparent cover-up in which the former president allegedly conspired with aides to destroy evidence.
Just hours later, Sen. Josh Hawley expressed outrage — not with Trump’s alleged crimes, but with prosecutors’ willingness to hold Trump accountable for his alleged crimes. To hear the Missouri Republican tell it, an unidentified “they” were turning the rule of law “on its head” by launching an investigation, methodically collecting evidence, working with a grand jury, and bringing charges against a private citizen who appears to have committed a series of felonies.
“We cannot allow this to stand,” the senator added during his Fox News interview, failing to explain what “this” referred to.
Three weeks later, the former president was indicted once more — this time in Georgia, for alleged election interference — and Hawley again went on Fox News to complain, though the GOP lawmaker’s rhetoric was even more provocative this time around.
From the transcript of the senator’s on-air appearance:
“They’re trying to send a message, loud and clear, and the message is: Don’t mess with us. And why they’re going after Trump? Because he messed with them. He challenged them across the board. He challenged their pro-war policies. He’s challenged them on Ukraine. He’s challenged their globalist agenda. … And the message is, if you challenge them on this stuff, if you challenge them on these policies, they hold dear, they will come after you. If you challenge them on their pro-abortion religion, they will come after you.”
Highlighting Hawley’s curious rant, Meidas Touch asked in a headline, “What the hell is he talking about?”
That’s an excellent question.
If the Missouri Republican — a Yale-trained attorney and former state attorney general — wants to make the case that the former president is innocent, he’s certainly welcome to present a defense. If Hawley believes he’s found flaws in the indictments, he should use his position to highlight them.
But the senator apparently has a different approach in mind. Sure, some people might be inclined to think prosecutors brought charges against a corrupt politician based solely on evidence of alleged wrongdoing, but Hawley would instead have the public embrace an alternative vision. To hear the GOP senator tell it, Trump was indicted, not because of the evidence uncovered through a grand jury process, but because Trump was a bold champion against an unnamed “they” and their globalism, military interventionism, and abortion rights. This, in turn, sparked a backlash that led the nefarious “they” to somehow work with grand juries and prosecutors across multiple jurisdictions, all as part of a fiendish plot to punish the poor former president for his audacity. It’s possible that Hawley genuinely believes this. It’s also possible that he knows better, but peddled the line to a national television audience because he cynically believes his party’s base will believe anything. Either way, this is quite bonkers.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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