Kansas Republicans expressed dismay at a guilty verdict against former president Donald Trump on all 34 alleged felony hush money charges in a New York Court on Thursday, but appeared just as concerned about the successful weaponization of the U.S. justice system by Trump’s political opponents and what will likely be a diminished view of the courts now by at least half of the electorate and possibly overseas.
While Republican officials offered statements on the verdict, Democrats however were greatly mum on the development. Neither the Kansas Democrat Party, nor Governor Laura Kelly’s office nor Democrats soul representative to the US Congress Sharice Davids made any mention of the verdict in their public social media posts Thursday afternoon. Kelly’s office did not respond to an email from the Informer seeking comment.
Though it was crickets from Democrats on this side of the state line, Missouri Democrat Congressman Emanuel Cleaver ventured his opinion.
“Today is a victory for justice and the rule of law,” Cleaver said. “Just as every American is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, we are equally guaranteed that no individual, including a former president, is above accountability. Today, a jury of American citizens and Donald Trump’s peers reaffirmed those foundational principles.”
“I hope that my fellow Americans will take this moment to reflect deeply on the road we walked to reach this point and which direction we want to take moving forward,” the Kansas City Democrat said.
The verdict is widely viewed as the culmination of the ongoing weaponization of the justice system in a multi-faceted assault against the former president, the presumptive nominee for the 2024 Republican presidential ticket, by an array foes including progressives in state court systems, the Department of Justice and Big Tech platforms like Facebook and Google as well as mainstream media. Multiple civil and criminal suits based on flimsy and sometimes literally non-existent evidence have been launched against Trump as the 2024 election neared, while similar allegations against President Joe Biden – influence peddling for cash as vice-president, mishandling of classified documents, sexual assault allegations – have been ignored by investigators. Biden has continually branded “extremist” followers of Trump as the nation’s number one threat, even as the U.S. economy has been wracked by inflation, millions of illegal immigrants flooded the country and two wars ignited under Biden’s watch in two separate world theaters. While pretending no administration influence on the hush money trial, Biden’s campaign sent actor Robert DeNiro to the New York courthouse last week to chastise Trump supporters gathered there.
Though prominent Democrats in the Sunflower State were muted, Kansas Republicans had plenty to say.
“It is a dark day for our country,” said Kansas Republican Party Chairman Mike Brown. “A New York judge has made a mockery of our justice system leading an already biased jury to an absurd ruling. I am confident this verdict will be overturned on appeal. What I am not confident of is our ability to repair the damage inflicted on the reputation of the justice system of the United States of America.”
“Politically charged, partisan NY prosecutors just performed the biggest sham in the history of America’s judicial system,” 1st District Congressman Tracey Man posted to Facebook.
‘This trial was never about justice—it was about weaponizing our judicial system to keep President Biden’s leading opponent off the campaign trail and in a courtroom away from voters. Americans are not fooled by this overly political ruling. I am looking forward to President Trump’s appeal.”
Minutes after the verdict Trump’s campaign website donation page crashed, apparently overloaded with those seeking to donate to the former president Trump campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita urged supporters to “log back on and try again” if they received an error message, according to coverage in The Hill.
Kansas Fourt District Congressman Ron Estes said the finding in the trial as well as its motivations were transparent.
“Most Americans can see through the politically motivated trial against President Trump, and they know that a prosecutor who ran specifically against the former president, a judge with a heavy anti-Trump bias, and a highly partisan venue could not produce a fair outcome,” Estes said. “Whether someone supports or opposes President Trump or his policies, the verdict today paints a sad state of affairs in this great nation, and the relentless attacks against President Trump for political gain are only further dividing the country and sowing doubt about our federal institutions.”
Candidate for 2nd District Congressman Derek Schmidt said he was confident the verdict would be overturned on appeal.
“Show me the man I’ll show you the crime” was coined by Stalin’s Soviet Union and that mindset sadly lives on today in New York City,” Schmidt said. “But without waiting for appeal, the American people should enter their own verdict. No contrived prosecution can deny the rest of the country our choice for President of the United States, and I look forward to voting for Donald Trump again on November 5.”
Pundits Thursday evening broadly expected the verdict to be a siren call to Republicans, Libertarians, moderates and even some disillusioned Democrats to become enlisted Trump supporters, as evidenced by the campaigns donation page traffic collapse. Judge Juan Merchan set Trump’s sentencing, which could likely include actual jail time for the former president, on July 11 – four days before the Republican National Convention.
Dane Hicks is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, VA. He is the author of novels "The Skinning Tree" and "A Whisper For Help." As publisher of the Anderson County Review in Garnett, KS., he is a recipient of the Kansas Press Association's Boyd Community Service Award as well as more than 60 awards for excellence in news, editorial and photography.
