Local Reaction to Trump Indictment
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on 38 charges in a federal investigation.
The Department of Justice unsealed former President Trump’s indictment earlier this afternoon.
As the Presidential Campaign is 2024 is heating up, this news has sent shockwaves across the political landscape.
Those shockwaves are being felt here in the Tennessee Valley.
One citizen, Laura Jones, said, “I think it’s silly. I think it’s a waste of time. It doesn’t mean that I want him to run for President, or to be the President, but I think it’s just a silly little fiasco.”
Tennessee’s representatives have expressed their disapproval.
Senator Marsha Blackburn said, “We all remember when Hillary Clinton deleted 30,000 emails… Nothing to see there, nothing to investigate… Now they’re going after President Trump, There are two tiers of justice.”
Representative Chuck Fleischmann said, “Myself, Speaker McCarthy, our Senators, are all strong behind Donald Trump. We still are. It bothers me very much that this indictment was brought. I think the very sanctity of the American justice system is at stake right now. The American people are watching this.”
The 38 charges brought today range from accusations that former President Trump illegally kept classified documents after leaving office to obstruction of justice.
Trump himself on his social media page called these charges the product of a hoax.
He said, “They can’t stop because it’s election interference at the highest level. There’s never been anything like what’s happened. I’m an innocent man, I’m an innocent person.”
Several people we talked to questioned if the legal process in this case has been fair.
Another citizen, John Jones, said, “If they find he’s guilty, then he’s guilty, that’s how that works… But if that is the rule of law and he’s found guilty…Does that also mean that anyone else that has been found with documents is also found as guilty?”
Others wonder if this should be a priority.
Another citizen, Becky Flanagan, said, “There’s so many things more important than that, and it’s all drummed up by the Democrats, it’s a political thing.”
We reached out to the Hamilton County Democratic Party for a comment.
They told us that quote, “We do not comment on ongoing investigations or prosecutions.”
Jones said, “It’s almost never been seen in history how we’ve just how we’ve had no faith in our country and in our own government.”
President Biden when asked earlier today refused to comment as well.
Lawyers for former President Trump say he will be arrested and presented in front of a federal judge at a courthouse in Miami on Tuesday.
