'Get a good bag of popcorn and enjoy the show': Lawmakers react to news of possible Trump indictment

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he received a target letter from the Justice Department relating to the 2020 election overthrow attempt and Jan. 6 violence. Republicans responded online with profanity and hyperbole.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) claimed that the only reason that Trump has been given a target letter is that his poll numbers went up against President Joe Biden.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told Raw Story the same thing, claiming that the move against Trump is purely political.

"DOJ just keeps it up, I mean, for who knows how long, the whole, the whole double standard and why it's ridiculous what they're doing. It's wrong, and it's why, like, what, four in five Americans think there's a two-tiered system of justice. They see it," said Jordan.

In the case of Trump, a federal grand jury would vote to decide whether to indict or not. It isn't a decision by the Justice Department.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) told Raw Story that Trump "should be" a target of the investigation. When asked about the excuse that the DOJ is only targeting him because his poll numbers went up, Cohen called it "typical Trump."

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) took it a bit further, calling it "full of crap."

Top Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD) agreed that the idea that a grand jury is making its decisions based on poll numbers is "baloney."

"They're going after him because he's done bad things," Hoyer continued. "I mean, you know, it's as simple as that. You know, he does things — he's so arrogant and so convinced of his own 'I can shoot people on Fifth Avenue and people would not care,' that he does things with impunity. And that's not the country we are. You know, we hold accountable wrongdoing. Now, he has a right to argue his case, obviously. But that's why he acts outrageously and is surprised people respond."

Far-right House Freedom Caucus chair Scott Perry (R-PA) called the target letter "all the same stuff."

"The federal government, DOJ, justice system, so-called, being used as a political weapon," he continued. "Now, I'm not going to characterize every single person at DOJ, but obviously the leadership, the people making decisions on the kind of cases."

Perry thinks that Trump's poll numbers continue to go up despite indictments because "the American people recognize these occurrences for what they are. Look, you're juxtaposing the person that's in the White House and his family right now with the person that just left the White House in real-time. One guy is getting a walk on everything, and the other side is being mercilessly persecuted for every single thing under the sun. Even things that oftentimes in the past were proven they were made up."

It's unclear what his reference was to things that were "made up."

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) called this kind of thinking absurd. "We all saw it!" he said.

"It's been obvious for a long time he was behind the insurrection," he continued. "And the phone call to [Georgia Secretary of State] Brad Raffensperger, and everything else he did. I'm not at all surprised. I'm surprised it took so long."

When asked about the Republican claims that it's political or that Trump was being treated unfairly, Nadler explained, "The Republican Party, the people in the House, some people supported the insurrection."

Two of Trump's former colleagues also spoke to Raw Story: Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), who was chased out of office after allegations of his misuse of federal funds, and Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), the president's former person physician who was accused of handing out pills without proper examination.

Zinke said he's "not surprised" by the charges, claiming that "high hurdles" are being set up for Trump. He thinks that the reason Trump's poll numbers are increasing among Republicans is that there is "pushback" as a result of DOJ "overreach."

"Look, he's being hit by so many different sides — at some point it just becomes theater," Zinke continued. "I'd say to my friends, get a good bag of popcorn and enjoy the show."

Jackson, by contrast, acted as if he hadn't even heard the news about the letter. A strident supporter of Trump's, he told Raw Story, "honestly I haven't heard his latest."

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) agreed, somewhat, saying that he's been targeted by "so many different people for so many different things. Think it'll help him raise money this week?"

Beyer noted that the news came from Trump himself and that he often tries to get out ahead of things. "There's clearly a bright line between what prosecutors in the Department of Justice — the wheels of justice are about and what the political engineers would think."

He confessed he's not sure how Democrats deal with it because they're not supposed to be involved in the Justice Department's activities, despite allegations from Jordan that they already are.

"On the one hand, there are so many Democrats who would rather have Trump as the nominee because he is so damaged and we know his core base is very, very loyal, but that's 20 percent or 24 percent. He's chased off so many Independents, so Biden could beat Donald Trump. On the other hand, if he wins, it would be terrible. So, on the off chance a Republican wins, you'd rather have somebody who's sensible."