by Michael Graham
If special prosecutor Jack Smith hoped his latest round of indictments against Donald Trump would convince Republicans to reconsider their support for the former president, he failed — particularly in the Granite State.
But if, as many political operatives believe, part of Smith’s goal is to get Republicans to rally around Trump’s troubled candidacy and help him become the GOP nominee, it’s mission accomplished.
“Most Republicans believe the Biden administration is weaponizing the Department of Justice and expanding the administrative state to attack Biden’s most likely electoral opponent. It’s how they distract from the president’s age and Hunter’s ongoing legal and personal sagas,” said Bedford Republican Craig Stevens, who served in the George W. Bush administration and on two presidential campaigns.
“There’s little doubt that among Republicans, this helps President Trump and will embolden his already committed core of supporters. This also makes it more difficult for other primary contestants to break through as pundits, the press, and the public remain focused on all things Trump.”
Trump is scheduled to make a speech in Windham on Tuesday, and polls of Granite State voters have consistently given the former president a double-digit lead. And a new NYTimes/Siena College poll released Monday found that, nationally, 17 percent of voters who back him over President Joe Biden think either he committed serious federal crimes or that he threatened democracy with his actions after the 2020 election.
As a result, some New Hampshire Republicans are choosing discretion as the better part of valor when the topic of Trump is raised.
“I don’t want my house bombed,” joked longtime GOP communications professional Alicia Preston Xanthopoulos when asked for a comment regarding Trump’s latest indictment.
One problem, legal experts say, is that Tuesday’s indictments are both weak and raise red flags about criminalizing political behavior.
Dan McLaughlin is a writer at National Review who spent 23 years as an attorney. No Trump fan (“He should be shunned from decent society”), McLaughlin nevertheless notes the holes in the indictment.
“But look throughout this indictment, which promises us ‘unlawful means’: Where’s the unlawful act by Trump? Read the verbs used: ‘spread lies,’ ‘publicly repeated,’ ‘issued a Tweet,’ ‘called,’ ‘lied to,’ ‘held a meeting,’ ‘publicly maligned,’ ‘re-tweeted,’ ‘encouraged supporters,’ etc. All of this stuff is the regular work of politics.”
And legal scholar Jonathan Turley, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University, pointed out what was missing: No charge for “conspiracy for incitement” or “seditious conspiracy.”
“It said [Trump] was spreading falsehoods, that [he] was undermining the integrity of the election — that is all part of the First Amendment,” Turley said. “And I think that courts will look skeptically.”
Patrick Griffin is a veteran political consultant based in New England.
“The indictment thing continues to drive Trump’s appeal among his base. The term indictment is less and less powerful each time Trump receives one,” Griffin said. “He has managed to trivialize and even cause disdain for the concept of truth and the Constitution.
“He should be ashamed, and so should his supporters for marginalizing the rule of law again and again.”
Trump opponents like political strategist Tom Rath believe the former president is in peril.
“Trump’s problems are real, and they are likely to get worse,” Rath said. “Republicans cannot get real traction until the legal issues (which I believe are genuine and beyond serious) around Trump subside. And I don’t believe that voters will equate Hunter Biden’s problems with those of Donald Trump.”
But Trump fans, on the other hand, remain unmoved.
“Republicans will certainly be emboldened in their support for President Trump,” MAGA, Inc. spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said via Twitter regarding the indictments.
“And I am certain common sense independents will also rally around Trump as they wake up to the truth — these indictments are cover-ups for Biden and attempt to interfere in the next election.”
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Michael Graham is a reporter for New Hampshire Journal.
