Most Arkansas GOP officials condemn guilty verdict in Trump trial
Arkansas politicians reacted Thursday to the verdict in former president Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York after a jury found the former president guilty of all 34 counts, with the state’s top GOP officials mostly denouncing the judgment.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee for the 2024 election was found guilty of falsifying business records to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election, attempting to hide payments to a porn actor who claimed to have had sex with Trump. Trump has maintained he did nothing wrong and likely will appeal the verdict, according to The Associated Press.
Reactions to the verdict have been split along partisan lines, with Republicans saying the trial was an unjust prosecution of a leading presidential candidate and Democrats criticizing the former president’s conduct that led to the prosecution.
“This is a politically-motivated sham trial,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican who served as White House press secretary under Trump from 2017 to 2019, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The American people decide our elections. Donald Trump will be our next president.”
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who has been floated as a potential running mate for Trump according to The New York Times, called the verdict “a travesty of justice.”
“The nakedly partisan judge biased the trial at every turn, from allowing an unconstitutional indictment in the first place to excluding key evidence to rigging the jury instructions,” Cotton said on X. “The American people will see right through Joe Biden and the Democrats’ weaponization of the legal system.”
Like Cotton, the rest of Arkansas’ congressional delegation who released statements on the verdict were unanimous in their criticism of the verdict or the prosecution.
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., posted on X, “The trial and verdict against Pres. Trump are deeply concerning given the many questions that have been raised about its fairness from the outset, undermining Americans’ confidence in the justice system at a time when we can least afford it.”
U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., added in another post on X, “Today’s verdict sets a dangerous precedent and harms the faith that Americans have in our justice system.”
Trump will be sentenced July 11, days before the Republican Party is set to formally nominate him as its presidential candidate.
“I am saddened that our nation had to go through this trial,” U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said on X. “The prosecution inflated a charge for a misdemeanor crime — failing to accurately report expenses — for which the statute of limitations had expired, into a federal election crime for purely political purposes.”
“A clearly partisan judge oversees a politically motivated trial during an election year to produce a politically partisan verdict,” U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., said in a statement. “Thankfully our justice system has an appeals process that can not only right a wrong, but can also salvage the idea that there is still equal justice under the law.”
Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson had a different take than most fellow Republicans, choosing not to criticize the verdict or prosecution in his statement. Hutchinson also sought the Republican nomination in the 2024 cycle but suspended his campaign after the Iowa caucuses.
“It is not easy to see a former President and the presumptive GOP nominee convicted of felony crimes; but the jury verdict should be respected,” Hutchinson said on X. “An appeal is in order but let’s not diminish the significance of this verdict.”
The case against Trump stems from $130,000 Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to buy her silence during the closing weeks of the 2016 presidential race. Daniels claimed to have had sex with Trump, something Trump has denied.
The payments to Cohen were categorized as legal expenses, something the prosecution said was an attempt to illegally conceal their true purpose, according to The Associated Press.
Trump’s attorneys said the payments to Cohen were for legitimate legal services and the desire to buy Daniels’ silence was motivated by personal reasons, rather than political ones, according to The Associated Press.
“Former presidents are not above the law, but neither should they be prosecuted for things no one else would be,” Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, a Republican, said in a statement. “The prosecution in this case was politically motivated and controversial, and there is a real possibility this decision will be overturned on appeal. Presidential elections should be decided by voters, not partisan prosecutions.”
Secretary of State John Thurston, another Republican, said in a statement, “This verdict is disappointing but not surprising. It’s been obvious that the fix has been in from day one.”
Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge, said in a statement, “Today’s verdict against a former president is the culmination of a politically-motivated prosecutor, a biased judge, an unconstitutional indictment, and flawed jury instructions.”
Skip Rutherford, a key adviser to Bill Clinton during the Democrat’s 1992 presidential campaign and the former dean of the University of Arkansas’ Clinton School of Public Service, said in an email, “I feel much like I did after my recent colonoscopy: I’m glad it’s over. I had no idea what to expect since many legal pundits said this was the weakest of the four cases the former President faced. The 34 of 34 guilty verdicts weren’t weak.”
Joseph Wood, chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas, said in a statement, “The Republican Party of Arkansas stands with President Trump. As he said today, ‘the real verdict will be November 5th by the people.’”
Grant Tennille, chair of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, said in a text message to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “There’s no need for me to comment on the verdict delivered today by a New York jury. It speaks for itself.
“I am heartsick, however, at the number of Arkansas Republicans who have revealed with their comments this evening that their allegiance to the MAGA movement exceeds their loyalty to the rule of law,” Tennille said.
Information for this article was contributed by Josh Snyder and Michael R. Wickline of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.