by Philip Wegmann
Encouraged by the volcanic temperament of their base, Republicans are now preparing to scorch the earth in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s conviction, potentially setting off a chain reaction that could fundamentally change the American political system altogether.
No one knows exactly how far they will go in their response.
It’s clear that conservatives have no patience for President Biden’s argument Friday morning that justice was served in Manhattan and that “the American principle that no one is above the law has been reaffirmed.” Instead, they see the ruling as an unprecedented “violation of the law” intended to interfere with the upcoming elections, and, some say, an unprecedented response is now necessary.
“Good people have to be as tough as the bad guys, otherwise freedom will be doomed,” Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller told RealClearPolitics, without providing specific details. Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Collins made himself clear. “It’s time for Red State AGs and DAs to get busy” – Georgia Republican he said on Thursday expressing the view that Republicans should start using the courts to prosecute their political enemies.
“The Hillary Clinton-financed Steele dossier is a good start,” Collins continued, referring to how the former Secretary of State misreported spending on a notorious opposition research document during the former Secretary of State’s presidential campaign. Clinton was later fined $11,000 by the Federal Election Commission. No criminal charges were filed.
“The statute of limitations has expired, but I was told it was no longer applicable.” Collins said.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are mounting a more conventional counteroffensive that falls within established parliamentary rules. Led by Utah State Sen. Mike Lee, eight Republicans they vowed to oppose all major legislation “not directly related to the security of the American people” and block all judicial nominees in protest of Trump’s conviction.
“We can’t pretend that our political world didn’t change quite dramatically and for the worse yesterday,” Lee told RCP. The Utah Republican acknowledged that legislation usually slows down before an election, but the White House’s efforts to get anything through the Senate are “becoming much more difficult for him.”
A legislative blockade alone may not satisfy a conservative base eager for revenge.
“I don’t want to hear elected Republicans complaining. I don’t need to see their tweets and statements condemning the verdict. All I want to hear from these people is what Democrats they are arresting. Don’t tell us you’re unhappy about the verdict. We don’t care about your feelings. We want to see the corrupt Democrat frog marching on camera in handcuffs. If you don’t do it, shut up.” – Matt Walsh, Daily Wire columnist with millions of fans – wrote X on the social networking site.
The conservative replied influential Chaya Raichik: “Exactly. Where’s the list? Here’s the beginning: Obama Hillary Joe Biden Hunter Biden.”
Mike Davis, a longtime Republican strategist considered a possible Trump attorney general, he told Axios wants prosecutors in red states like Georgia and Florida to investigate Democrats for allegedly conspiring to interfere in the election by prosecuting the former president.
For his part, Lee refrained from endorsing these efforts. He compared it to some left-wing campaigns to pack the Supreme Court, which he has long opposed, and warned it would lead to “lawlessness” and “politicization.”
“I think this is an analogous circumstance,” the senator said, referring to the impeachment of a leading presidential candidate, something the Justice Department has long avoided. “They broke the seal,” Lee said of Trump’s conviction. “I don’t know if it can be stopped.”
He raised one remote possibility: if Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team change their mind during the appeals process. “They can admit a mistake on appeal,” Lee said. “Other illegal uses of the law, wherever they exist, could be abandoned. You can still put this genie back in the bottle, but not for long.
Trump could potentially composed the right’s rage before Republicans start dragging their Democratic political opponents to court. He already has announced the appointment of a special prosecutor “to prosecute the most corrupt president in the history of the United States, Joe Biden, and the entire Biden crime family.”
Trump became notable for promising to “lock up” Clinton during the 2016 election, but quickly abandoned that promise after winning the election. “I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t want to” – Trump he told the New York Times. “She’s been through a lot and suffered a lot in many different ways, and I don’t want to hurt them at all. The campaign was brutal.”
When asked if he liked the idea of compiling lists of political enemies to pursue, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott leaned on Scripture and told CNN that “vengeance is mine, says the Lord.” Let’s leave it there.”
“The bottom line is that without a doubt, President Trump looked me in the eye and in a room full of other people and said, you know what, the best revenge is success,” continued Scott, Trump’s potential vice presidential pick.
Talking about their own law, for now, is just talk. The most immediate and concrete consequence of a conviction was dollars. Republicans are constantly raking in political donations, and the Trump campaign announced a 24-hour fundraiser of $34.8 million, 29 percent of which came from first-time Trump donors.
Asked if he was worried about being prosecuted after leaving the White House now that some on the right have declared open season in response to Trump’s conviction, Biden told Fox News: “Not at all. I didn’t do anything wrong. The system is still working.”
Pressed to respond to Trump’s claims that he is the one pursuing legal cases against his political rival, the president smirked: “I didn’t know I had that kind of power.”
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Philip Wegmann is a contributor to RealClearPolitics.
