Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) pushed back on former President Trump’s and his allies’ claims that the hush money trial was politically motivated and slanted against the former president.
Schiff responded to Republican National Committee (RNC) co-chair Lara Trump’s appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” where she criticized the prosecutors for bringing the hush money case against the former president and the judge overseeing the case. Trump was found guilty by a jury in New York last week on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
“Well, first, in terms of Lara Trump’s interview, and her complaining about the case being tried in New York before New York jury, if you don’t want to be tried in front of a New York jury, then maybe don’t commit somebody so many crimes in New York City. It’s pretty simple,” he said.
Schiff reiterated that Trump’s case, including jury selection, was conducted the same way as any other case.
“And that jury was selected in part by Donald Trump and his attorneys. They vetted each of the jurors. He had every right that every other criminal defendant has in that courtroom. And they found — this ordinary jury of peers found him guilty on every single count,” Schiff said.
“So if you don’t want to be tried in New York, don’t commit crimes in New York. But he got the same due process as any other person and that’s exactly the way it should be,” he added.
His comments echo Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s comments following the verdict last Thursday, who emphasized that the case was also like any other case and that the “only voice that matters is the voice of the jury.”
“While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial and ultimately today at this verdict in the same manner as every other case that comes to the courtroom doors: by following the facts and the law, in doing so, without fear or favor,” Bragg said.