NW Illinois News

State Sen. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) is pushing back against the indictment of former president Donald Trump. 

“I am extremely disappointed that District Attorney Bragg has decided to weaponize his office,” Chesney said in a press release. “It is a continuation of unrelenting efforts by certain elected officials and many institutional bureaucrats to put former President Donald Trump behind bars. They have come at him time and time again, and each time their claims have been unsubstantiated. Whether they were targeting a businessman contemplating a run for public office, a current President or a former President, what they’re doing is wrong, it’s unethical, and it poses a huge threat to our democracy.”

Chesney urged all lawmakers to reexamine the system. 

“Any elected official who uses their position of power to target another public figure for their own personal and political gain is acting unprofessionally and dishonorably. I’m calling on all legislative caucuses, regardless of political affiliation, to review processes, procedures, and prosecutorial powers, to ensure we are protecting free and fair elections and the rights of individuals to express ideas without fear of persecution.” 

Trump was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Bragg’s predecessor refused the case for six years before he took it up. The case surrounds hush money payments to a porn star who alleges she was paid to stay silent to not disclose an affair with Trump. The New York Post opined the case “just convinces America that our legal system is biased and politicized.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he will fight extradition efforts to remove Trump from his Florida home. “The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head,” DeSantis - who is gearing up to challenge Trump in the presidential primary – said on Twitter. “It is un-American. DeSantis' tweet further reads, "The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent.” He said his state “will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda.”

Trump responded to the indictment on his Truth Social social media platform. 

"This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history. From the time I came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower, and even before I was sworn in as your President of the United States, the Radical Left Democrats - the enemy of the hard-working men and women of this Country - have been engaged in a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement. You remember it just like I do: Russia, Russia, Russia; the Mueller Hoax; Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine; Impeachment Hoax 1; Impeachment Hoax 2; the illegal and unconstitutional Mar-a-Lago raid; and now this,” Trump said. 

Trump called the Democrats liars who have "cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to 'Get Trump, but now they've done the unthinkable - indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference."

 "Never before in our Nation's history has this been done," he stated. "The Democrats have cheated countless times over the decades, including spying on my campaign, but weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for President, has never happened before. Ever.” 

Trump called 'Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who was hand-picked and funded by George Soros,' a disgrace. He alleged Bragg to have been "doing Joe Biden's dirty work'" instead of "stopping the unprecedented crime wave taking over New York City." Bragg, according to Trump is "ignoring the murders and burglaries and assaults he should be focused on." 

"I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden," the former president said of his successor. "The American people realize exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here. Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party - united and strong - will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"