It is “disgraceful” that President Joe Biden’s electoral strategy involves the Department of Justice (DOJ) “prosecuting” former President Donald Trump, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said on Monday following news of the New York appeals court’s decision to pause the clock on enforcing a $464 million judgment against Trump.
“It’s disgraceful that Biden’s entire electoral strategy relies on his Department of Justice prosecuting Donald Trump,” Cotton said on Monday.
“More befitting of a banana republic than America,” he remarked:
His remark follows the state appeals court panel lowering the bond at the last minute to $175 million in Trump’s civil case in New York.
The judges in the five-panel New York appeals court wrote in the order:
It is ordered that the motion is granted to the extent of staying enforcement of those portions of the Judgment (1) ordering disgorgement to the Attorney General of $464,576,230.62, conditioned on defendants-appellants posting, within ten (10) days of the date of this order, an undertaking in the amount of $175 million dollars.
Trump, in turn, said he “greatly” respects the decision of the Appellate Division, adding, “and I’ll post either $175 million in cash or bond for security, whatever is necessary very quickly within the 10 days, and I thank the Appellate Division for acting quickly, but Judge Engoron is a disgrace to this country and this should not be allowed to happen.”
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He made the comments promptly following the decision, which triggered many others to weigh in on the latest instance of lawfare against the former president.
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Like Sen. Cotton, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) remarked on the Biden administration’s continuing targeting of Trump through the DOJ, concluding that the “Biden administration wants Trump to die in jail and they want to bankrupt his family.”
“It is the biggest assault on democracy we’ve ever seen,” he added. “If you’re too cowardly to call it out, you’re not ready for this moment in American politics”:
Trump-endorsed Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake commented on the decision, asserting that it shows that both “Judge Engoron and Tish James are partisan hacks”:
Even the establishment media have admitted that Trump scored an “unexpected” victory with that ruling. However, a spokesperson for the New York attorney general said Trump is “still facing accountability” for what was described as “staggering fraud.”
Nonetheless, Trump has maintained his innocence, writing on Truth Social, “This also shows how ridiculous and outrageous Engoron’s original decision was at $450 Million.”
“I DID NOTHING WRONG, AND NEW YORK SHOULD NEVER BE PUT IN A POSITION LIKE THIS AGAIN. BUSINESSES ARE FLEEING, VIOLENT CRIME IS FLOURISHING, AND IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS BE RESOLVED IN ITS TOTALITY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE,” he added: