New York Attorney General Letitia James repeated her familiar six-word statement after former President Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in Manhattan on Thursday.
“No one is above the law,” James, a Democrat, write to Xformerly known as Twitter, in the hour when Trump’s verdict was read.
The former president and 2024 Republican presidential candidate was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, and allies have repeatedly called the case as a form of election interference and condemning the prosecutor and Judge Juan Merchan after the verdict of the jury.
James also faced attacks from the former president after business fraud charges against Trump led to him and others associated with the Trump Organization being found liable for defrauding lenders and insurers. Throughout the lawsuit, which ended with a ruling in February, James repeated the phrase, “No man is above the law,” including issuing a warning before closing arguments in the case.
Image by Dave Sanders-Pool/Getty
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis also recently used the phrase after winning the Georgia Democratic primary earlier this month. Willis’ office is leading the racketeering case against Trump and more than a dozen of his defenders, who are accused of trying to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state of Georgia.
During his victory speech, Willis said that the people of Fulton County “sent a strong and powerful message” in his voice, “And the message is that no one is above the law in this country, and no one is below it.” “
The same words were used by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the federal criminal case against Trump. In an April filing with the U.S. Supreme Court, Smith asked the justices to reject Trump’s claim that he is immune from criminal charges for actions taken in office under presidential immunity, writing that “a fundamental principle of our constitutional order is that no man is above the law—including the President.” .”
President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign also used the phrase in a message about Trump’s verdict, saying, “In New York today, we see that nothing is above the law.”
“Donald Trump must have mistakenly believed that he would not face consequences for breaking the law for his personal gain,” the statement said. “But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box.”
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment on James’ message Thursday afternoon.
James’ statement drew backlash from several X users, including the conservative account “End Wokeness,” which responded to the attorney general’s post, “Except all the criminals roaming the streets of your country right now.”
Conservative activist Scott Presler also responded, “Including illegal aliens?”
Political commentator Joey Mannarino added to James’ post, “Hunter Biden is. Hillary Clinton is.”
Trump called the guilty verdict a “disgrace” in a statement Friday, adding, “This is a rigged trial by a corrupt judge.”
“The real verdict will be on November 5 by the people,” said the former president. “And they know what’s going on here, and everybody knows what’s going on here. You have a DA who’s backed by (George) Soros, and everybody, we’re not doing anything wrong.
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