During a visit to Plattsburgh Monday for the return of Amtrak's Adirondack line, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik again criticized the indictment of former President Donald Trump on criminal charges.
"This is a political witch hunt," she told reporters, echoing prior statements she's made since a grand jury of 23 New Yorkers handed down the indictment last week. "This was a non-case that was passed on by the Department of Justice, by the U.S. attorneys.
"And (Manhattan District Attorney) Alvin Bragg ran on prosecuting Donald Trump. This is political; it's about the individual, not about the case."
The exact charges won't be made public until the indictment is unsealed at Trump's arraignment, scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Tuesday. But they'll likely have to do with his business records and a payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump does not deny the payment; he does deny he and Daniels had an affair.
Stefanik said she expects the former president — who plans to run again next year — to be found innocent if the case goes to trial. She framed the indictment as an attempt to silence his supporters.
"I proudly stand with him. I stand for rule of law. And I also want to point out (that) we will be conducting investigations ... into the federal dollars used by Alvin Bragg to pursue this as part of the weaponization of the federal government."
According to Bragg's general counsel, that was about $5,000 in federal forfeiture money used to investigate Trump and the Trump Organization.
Trump is expected to plead not guilty to the charges.