FIRST ON FOX: Republicans on Tuesday called the latest indictment of former President Trump an “appalling abuse of power” and dismissed it as an attempt by the Biden administration to interfere with testimony from earlier this week about President Biden’s son Hunter.
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York told Fox News Digital Special Counsel that Jack Smith’s indictment against Trump marked “another dark day in America as Joe Biden continues to weaponize his corrupt Department of Justice against his leading political opponent Donald J. Trump.”
“Less than 24 hours ago, Congress heard testimony from Hunter Biden’s longtime business partner that Joe Biden joined Hunter’s business calls over 20 times,” Stefanik said. “This directly contradicts Biden’s lie that he never discussed business with his son.
“Today’s bogus indictment of Donald Trump is yet another desperate attempt to distract attention from mounting evidence of Joe Biden’s direct involvement in his family’s illegal influence peddling scheme, one of the largest corruption scandals in politics in history.
TRUMP TOLD ON CHARGES OUT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBE UNTIL JANUARY. 6
![Stefanik at the press conference after Trump said he was a target in the Jack Smith January 6 probe](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/07/640/320/GettyImages-1553607394.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York told Fox News Digital Tuesday that “it’s another dark day in America as Joe Biden continues to use his corrupt Department of Justice against his leading political opponent, Donald J. Trump.” (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“President Trump has a right under the First Amendment to properly express concerns about the integrity of the 2020 election. Despite the DOJ’s illegal attempt to interfere in the 2024 election on behalf of Joe Biden, President Trump continues who is rising in the polls and will defeat Joe Biden and be sworn in as President of the United States in January 2025.”
Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Digital that the “double standard confuses” him.
“How can the justice system recommend a plea deal for Hunter Biden but continue to pursue President Trump this way?” said Scott. “It’s like we’ve entered [an] authoritarian state.”
![Donald Trump](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/07/640/320/Donald-Trump.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Former President Donald Trump (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital that “the news of another indictment against President Trump would not be surprising before 2024.”
“The left knows they can’t beat Trump amid Biden’s failures, so they’re trying to get him out with criminal charges,” Blackburn said. “Biden’s abuse of two levels of justice to target his greatest political foe.”
TRUMP’S 2024 GOP RIVALS WEIGH THE PROBE INDICTMENT OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT ON JANUARY 6
![Austin Scott](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/01/640/320/2023-01-06_knb_5328.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Digital that the “double standard confuses” him. (Rep. Austin Scott/Fox News Digital)
Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin on Fox News Digital, “Once again, leftist Democrats are weaponizing the Justice Department to attack Joe Biden’s strongest political opponent while turning a blind eye to the corrupt Biden regime.
“President Trump is a champion for America First, and I will do everything in my power to help him take back the White House in 2024.”
Rep. said. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, on Fox News Digital “President Trump truly cares and wants the best for the American people.
“He’s committed to draining the swamp, and the left hates him for it,” Nehls said. “This is another attempt by the current administration to lock up their top political rival.”
![Republican Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/03/640/320/GettyImages-1244882138.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin on Fox News Digital, “Once again, leftist Democrats are weaponizing the Justice Department to attack Joe Biden’s strongest political opponent while turning a blind eye to the corrupt Biden regime.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“What a shame!” he added.
Nehls also tweeted a “witch hunt” after the indictment was handed down.
Rep. said. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., on Fox News Digital barely “one day after devastating testimony from Hunter Biden’s business partner that Big Guy Joe Biden was part of fraudulent-related conversations Hunter’s influence peddling, the corrupt and armed Biden Department of Justice is mysteriously bringing more charges against Biden’s political opponent and biggest re-election threat, President Donald J. Trump.
“Americans are smart enough to see through this shameful cover-up by the Biden Crime Family and the unjust prosecution of President Trump.”
![Lauren Boebert speaks at CPAC](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/03/640/320/GettyImages-1247741689.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tweeted about recent revelations about President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, saying “the American people can see what happens next: the attempt of the DOJ to disrupt the news and attack the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. , President Trump.”
“House Republicans will continue to expose the truth about Biden Inc. and the two-tier justice system.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., tweeted, “Let’s be clear about what’s going on: Biden’s DOJ cuts deals for Hunter to cover influence peddling schemes of the Biden Family while trying to prosecute his top political opponent. .
“This is an outrageous abuse of power.”
Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley tweeted “Biden DOJ unveils latest effort to stop Trump from running against Biden – completely unprecedented in American history.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan tweeted “when you drain The Swamp, The Swamp fights back.
“President Trump did nothing wrong!”
The Republicans’ comments came after Smith indicted Trump on Tuesday for his actions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH SAID JAN. 6 ‘LIARS OF LIES’ FROM TRUMP, PRAISES THE ‘HEROES’ DEFENDING THE CAPITOL
Smith said Tuesday that the unrest was “sparked by lies” from former President Donald Trump, whom he charged with “conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to disenfranchise voters and conspiracy and attempt to obstruct an official that trial.”
Smith made a public statement shortly after the federal indictment against Trump was unsealed Tuesday afternoon, encouraging “everybody to read it in its entirety.”
“The attack on our nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented attack on the seat of American democracy,” Smith said Tuesday. “As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies — the defendant’s lies — targeted at obstructing a key function of the US government, the nation’s process of collecting, counting and verifying presidential election results.”
![Special Counsel Jack Smith](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/06/640/320/smith.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Special Counsel Jack Smith said Tuesday that the riots at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 were “sparked by lies” from former President Donald Trump, whom he charged with “conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to remove the right of voters and conspired and attempted to obstruct an official proceeding.” (Screenshot by Fox News/AP Photo)
Smith added, however, that the indictment is “merely an allegation and that the defendant shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
The indictment named only the former president, but listed six unnamed co-conspirators. Smith said the investigation into “other individuals is ongoing in this case.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Smith said the “men and women of law enforcement who defended the US Capitol on January 6th were heroes.”
“They were patriots, and they were the best of us. They didn’t just defend a building or the people who took shelter in it,” Smith said. “They put their lives on the line to defend who we are as a nation and as a people. They defended the very institutions and principles that defined the United States.”
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed reporting.