On Tuesday, as Spencer covered, former and potentially future President Donald Trump was indicted for the third time by a D.C,-based grand jury, as Special Counsel Jack Smith brought charges to do with the events on and leading up to January 6, 2021. The charges earned considerable criticism, with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) earning attention for his particularly harsh words during his appearance on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle."
After having "skimmed through" the indictment, Cotton said he agreed with host Laura Ingraham's categorizing the indictment "a diatribe." He also explained that "it seems like something you would get from an MSNBC producer for a special on that channel. These are all constitutionally protected activities in which former President Trump engaged, political activities and free speech protected by the First Amendment."
Adding that "you don't have to agree with him, you don't have to think he was right," Cotton also noted "I don't see how these charges can go forward without a serious constitutional challenge from the former president."
Cotton had strong words not only for the charges, but for Smith as well, referring to him as "an ideological zealot" and calling to mind how he charged former Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) on similar crimes in 2014. As the senator pointed out, though, those charges were reversed unanimously at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016, "because his legal theories were so far-fetched."
On Wednesday, McDonnell lambasted Smith's legal history as one which shows the prosecutor to be "partisan," who "exercised bad judgment," and had an "overzealousness about charging." McDonnell himself had legal experience as the Attorney General of Virginia before his time as governor.
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Cotton also said "it's very curious that [Attorney General] Merrick Garland chose that man," speaking about Smith, "to pursue the former president."
Finally, Cotton wished to make a telling point about how Democrats react to Republicans winning elections. "I want to point out that every time a Republican has won the presidency in this century, the Democrats try to stop the certification of that victory. Yet none of them face criminal charges over what is obviously First Amendment protected activity," Cotton shared, raising further concerns about the nature of these charges.
Sen. Tom Cotton: This reads "like something you would get from an MSNBC producer for a special on that channel. These are all constitutionally protected activities in which former President Trump engaged, political activities and free speech protected by the First Amendment." pic.twitter.com/GMc5GBfdyO
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) August 1, 2023
Cotton was hardly the only one to raise First Amendment rights concerns about the charges against Trump. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) also earned attention for his comments, as has been the case whenever he's spoken out against the indictments brought against Trump. "Apparently it is now a crime to make statements challenging election results if a prosecutor decides those statements aren’t true," his tweet pointed out.
"So when should we expect indictments of the democrat politicians who falsely claimed Russia hacked the 2016 election," Rubio's tweet also asked. The Russia collusion narrative that Rubio referred to was confirmed to be a total hoax by the Durham report released in May of this year.
Apparently it is now a crime to make statements challenging election results if a prosecutor decides those statements aren’t true.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 2, 2023
So when should we expect indictments of the democrat politicians who falsely claimed Russia hacked the 2016 election?
As another tweet from Rubio on Wednesday pointed out, even Hollywood actors put forth a desperate, last-ditch to get the 2016 election results overturned. "When will the investigation begin on the effort by Hollywood actors to overturn the Presidential Election of 2016," Rubio's subsequent tweet asked.
And yet another tweet, this one pinned to his profile, contains a clip of over 2 minutes long of people pushing the Russia collusion hoax, as it too asks when those people will be indicted.
When will the investigation begin on the effort by Hollywood actors to overturn the Presidential Election of 2016?
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 2, 2023
pic.twitter.com/TSNcCEidOR
After 2016 election we had riots in multiple cities & an effort to conduct an electoral college coup after multiple democrats & left wing media enablers claimed Russia “hacked our election”
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 2, 2023
Yet as the Senate Intel report found:
"The Committee has not seen any evidence that vote… pic.twitter.com/WzUwbDgnYA
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