Bowling Green Today

U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) led 28 Senate Republicans in sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland condemning what they describe as the "evisceration of the American judicial process" following the conviction of former President Donald Trump in Manhattan.

The letter states, “The conviction of President Trump in Manhattan is nothing short of the evisceration of the American judicial process. In their zeal to imprison Donald Trump, Democrat prosecutors successfully dissolved the constitutional protections afforded to defendants and the barriers that protect every American from the abuses of arbitrary rule.”

The senators argue that due process, guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, along with the Sixth Amendment right to be informed of accusations, were compromised during Trump's trial. They contend that Judge Juan Merchan's financial contributions to Democratic candidates and causes raise questions about impartiality. Furthermore, they claim prosecutors converted alleged misdemeanors into felonies without clear evidence of a second crime.

“Due process cannot exist when the defendant is accused of a secret crime,” they wrote. “No American – not even a President – can defend himself fairly in a court of law if he is deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to know what crime he is alleged to have committed.”

The letter also criticizes the Biden Administration's role in what they call "the destruction of due process," suggesting that potential Federal Election Campaign Act violations fall outside New York State prosecutor Alvin Bragg’s jurisdiction.

“We condemn this show trial, not just because it marks the attempt to imprison a leader of the loyal opposition, but because it threatens the existence of due process of law,” they concluded.

Senator Paul was joined by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rick Scott (R-FL), Roger Marshall (R-KS), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tim Scott (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Marco Rubio (R-FL), James Lankford (R-OK), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), JD Vance (R-OH), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ted Budd (R-NC), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Katie Britt (R-AL), Mike Braun (R-IN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Hoeven (R-ND) Deb Fischer(R-NE) and Josh Hawley(R-MO).