(CNSNews.com) - President Trump's claim that he will be arrested on Tuesday in connection with an alleged hush money payment, in 2016, to porn star Stormy Daniels has a number of Republicans crying foul.
"[Manhattan District Attorney] Alvin Bragg is abusing his office to target President Trump while he’s reduced a majority of felonies, including violent crimes, to misdemeanors," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted on Sunday.
"He has different rules for political opponents. Republicans stopped the radical DC crime law, and we will investigate any use of federal funds that are used to facilitate the perversion of justice by Soros-backed DA’s across the country."
In an earlier tweet posted on Saturday, McCarthy wrote: "Here we go again — an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump.
"I’m directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions."
Trump wrote the following message in all-caps on his Truth Social platform Saturday morning:
"NOW ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE, WHICH HAS ALLOWED NEW RECORDS TO BE SET IN VIOLENT CRIME & WHOSE LEADER IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS, INDICATE THAT, WITH NO CRIME BEING ABLE TO BE PROVEN, & BASED ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRYTALE, THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!"
Apparently in response to Trump's calls for "protest," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) tweeted on Saturday: "We live in a democracy. Right-wing extremists who fan the flames of political violence with inflammatory rhetoric are not fit to serve. American values over autocracy."
Jeffries, appearing on MSNBC on Sunday, urged "everyone to just allow the prosecutors to do their job."
"I'm confident that the myriad of investigations will involve individuals who are professional," he told host Jen Psaki: "They will follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the Constitution and then we'll see where these investigations lead."
Jeffries said he "strongly" disagrees with McCarthy's call for the "relevant" House committees to investigate "politically motivated prosecutions."
"I strongly disagree with that statement, and it's not clear to me what committee the speaker may be referring to -- perhaps the so-called weaponization committee, which is really more appropriately named the Committee to Protect Insurrectionists, and that is what we've seen from the extreme MAGA Republicans as it relates to the 118th Congress," Jeffries said.
"Instead of the House Majority focusing on the economy, focusing on inflation, focusing on job creation, focusing on healthcare, they continue to pedal conspiracy theories led by this so-called weaponization committee and the Oversight Committee, as opposed to trying to find common ground with House Democrats to try to make life better for everyday Americans.
"But we're going to continue to put people over politics, we're going to continue to focus on lower cost and better paying jobs and safer communities, and we will continue to defend our democracy."
Psaki read a tweet from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who said: "If the Manhattan DA indicts President Trump, he will ultimately win even bigger than he is already going to win."
Psaki asked Jeffries if he agrees with that argument:
"Well, the last person that I'm going to lean into political insight from is Marjorie Taylor Greene," Jeffries said, "although I should note that she has become one of the most important House Republicans in the Congress and, for all we know, could be on the presidential ticket as the vice presidential candidate for Donald Trump. That is how important she has become to the extreme MAGA Republican House Majority in the Congress right now.
"But that is also one of the reasons why the American people should be concerned, because it is an extreme agenda that doesn't want to deal with the issues of importance to working families and middle class folks and all those who aspire to be part of the middle class. That's the difference between House Republicans and House Democrats.
"We will continue to focus on kitchen table, bread and butter issues of importance, the economy, jobs, health care, protecting Social Security, protecting Medicare, and building that economy that works for everyday Americans."
(So said the leader of the party that spent many months and millions of dollars with a one-sided "investigation" of the events of January 6.)
Psaki asked Jeffries, "How do you prevent this from helping Trump politically?"
"Well, the American people rejected political extremism all throughout the country in the most recent midterm elections in 2022," Jeffries said.
"And it's my expectation that they will continue to do so moving forward. And, you know, it is unfortunate that the extreme has become mainstream for this version of the Republican Party in the House and in the Senate and all across America.
"We'll litigate that case any day of the week as we move forward because it's a case that I believe Democrats will win. We're on the right side of the American people, the right side of American values, and on the right side of history," Jeffries said.