MILWAUKEE — Donald Trump and a fraternity of fellow felons played starring roles at this week’s Republican National Convention.
There was former Trump adviser Peter Navarro, fresh out of federal prison, delivering a prime-time speech.
There was former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, prowling the Fiserv Forum convention floor with official credentials.
Paul Manafort attends the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
More than a dozen Republican convention delegates are indicted “fake electors” charged with attempting to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
And even Kid Rock — who performed a pro-Trump anthem minutes before the former president delivered his lengthy nomination acceptance speech Thursday — has been charged with several crimes over the years stemming from physical altercations.
Musician Kid Rock performs on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 18, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wis. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Republicans, who used the convention to fashion themselves the party of law and order and rule law, largely dismissed their GOP brethren’s legal troubles as witch hunts, abuse of federal power and the Democrat-driven product of conservatives’ new favorite term — “lawfare.”
But unlike most unelected delegates at the Republican National Convention, some veteran Republican lawyers admitted to Raw Story that Trump and his top advisors actually stepped over the legal line.
“I mean, when you don’t reply to a subpoena, you don’t reply to a subpoena,” former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) — who has a law degree from Penn State Dickinson Law — told Raw Story on the convention floor Thursday.
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (L) speaks with Ohio governor Mike DeWine at the Fiserv Forum during preparations for the Republican National Convention (RNC) on July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wis. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Other Republican lawyers turned lawmakers are surprised the Supreme Court recently granted Trump — along with other presidents — sweeping immunity from being prosecuted for anything they claim as an ‘official duty, such as commanding Department of Justice officials to overturn the will of the American people.
“He’s the luckiest man I've ever met,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) told Raw Story as he was entering the convention Thursday. “And he was very lucky on Saturday. Thank God.”
Before coming to Congress, McCaul served as both deputy attorney general of Texas and a federal prosecutor with the Department of Justice. He’s still mystified by some recent rulings, including Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision — which is being appealed — that Special Counsel Jack Smith is illegitimate.
“I didn't see some of these recent legal wins coming,” McCaul said. “I'm a federal prosecutor, I was worried about some of these [cases].”
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Smith is prosecuting Trump for retaining boxes and boxes of sensitive classified documents after leaving the White House
“Do you think a president should still take classified documents with him?” Raw Story asked former Rep. John Duncan Jr. (R-TN).
“No. I don't think he should,” Duncan, who previously served as a criminal court judge, said.
‘Yeah?” Raw Story pressed. “But not illegal?”
“Yeah. Yeah,” Duncan — who recently argued in an op-ed that roughly 90% of classified documents are ‘too much’ — told Raw Story. “Technology moves so fast, I can tell you any files that Trump had for three and a half years, it's out of date. So I think it's a bunch of hullabaloo over nothing.”
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Indeed, the Republican lawyers Raw Story talked to at the GOP convention wouldn’t have necessarily prosecuted Trump and his former team — including Navarro, Steve Bannon and Roger Stone — had it been up to them. But they indicated the various cases are far from baseless.
They’re outliers in an arena that gave recently released convict Navarro a standing ovation Wednesday evening..
“Donald Trump's gonna be our next president. Joe Biden's gonna be out of the White House. Peter Navarro's outta jail,” Connecticut delegate Jeff Santopietro told Raw Story after having Navarro sign a copy of his book Thursday. “Listen, first of all, I'm buying it to support him, but I understand it's a good read. And I think that he deserves to get a break in life, because Joe Biden and the government really screwed the guy.”
Former director of the U.S. Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wis. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“Lawfare” may feel like new rhetoric on the right, but it’s become a deeply held conviction to many Republicans.
“It smells like there's two sets of rules and there's not in the world,” Santopietro said. “There's a set of rules for the Bidens and there set of rules for everybody else. If you have an ‘R’ behind the end of your name, or you’re associated with Donald Trump, you end up getting federal officers after you.”
“What’d you make of the New York case against Trump?” Raw Story asked, referring to the case that led to Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, stemming from Trump’s hush money payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 president election. Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for September.
“It’s bulls–t,” Santopietro said. “In plain English it was all bulls–t. Matter of fact … that’s a persecution. That wasn't a legal case at all.”
“They should throw that whole case out and say they're sorry and move on. Cause when he's in the White House, January 21st,” Santopietro started before stopping himself. “There’s no payback. But you know what? They deserve everything they get.”
New York Republicans agree.
“Shame on us for basically having a prior president of the United States from your home state, you disown him the day he becomes president, not the day he no longer is president, from your own home state. Who does that? Foolishness,” Tommy — who declined to offer his last name — told Raw Story through his thick Brooklyn accent. “You disown the guy the day he has the authority to make your lives better in your home state out of the other 50 states? Something's not mentally right.”
Republican lawyers see the line Trump and his advisers crossed, but that doesn’t mean they disagree with the party’s unelected base.
“The problem is, [former Obama administration Attorney General] Eric Holder didn’t reply to a subpoena and he’s walking around a free man. He was never prosecuted. Again, it’s the old double standard,” Santorum said. “I think Americans are hopefully getting tired of it and they’d like to have both parties play by the same rules.”
“What do you make of these court cases coming down in Trump's favor?” Raw Story asked.
“The Democrats found a bunch of spurious claims against him. I mean the New York case, he’ll win that on appeal, be cause it was a bogus charge,” Santorum said. “They have frivolous charges. This is lawfare…they don’t care about winning, they care about damaging politically.”
When asked about the substance of the cases against Trump and his team, McCaul demurred.
“For this crowd, it just validates what they've been thinking, ‘It's all rigged,’” McCaul told Raw Story.
“But what about your crowd of legal scholars?” Raw Story pressed.
“Hey man,” McCaul said. “I know he's winning.”
