“The case against Donald Trump is a legal disaster, a weaponizing the justice system against a political opponent,” Ellis, a former attorney for Trump’s 2020 campaign, told The Epoch Times after a grand jury in New York voted to indict the former president.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been investigating Trump in connection with an alleged hush money payment to adult performer Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump, who is the frontrunner in the field of 2024 presidential hopefuls, has denied any wrongdoing, describing the March 30 indictment as “political persecution and election interference.”

Ellis expressed the same view.

“The only reason DA Alvin Bragg is bringing charges is because Trump is running for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination,” she said, noting that such efforts are likely to backfire.

“The DNC and RNC want a post-Trump America, yet they are incentivizing donors and the MAGA base to rally support against Trump because no one deserves to be politically prosecuted.”

She pointed to Trump’s top potential rival for the Republican nomination in 2024, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who came out to denounce the indictment as “un-American.” He also declared that he will not assist in any extradition of Trump, a Florida resident, “given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda,” referring to controversial billionaire financier George Soros.

A throng of prominent Republicans have come to Trump’s aide in the wake of the indictment and criticized the charges against him as politically motivated.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), like Ellis, said that Bragg has “irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election.”

“As he routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public, he weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump,” he wrote, vowing that the House will “hold Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the House GOP conference chair, released a statement saying the indictment was a “dark day for America.”

“The radical Far Left will stop at nothing to persecute Joe Biden’s chief political opponent ahead of the 2024 presidential election to suppress the will and voice of the American people,” she wrote.

Democrats, in the meantime, hailed the news, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) saying that Trump is “subject to the same laws as every American.”

The swift response from DeSantis is rewarding politically, Ellis noted. With such a statement, she said, he is positioning himself as “a champion for the rule of law” and an “executive officer who will not allow political games.”

“Voters will love that display of strength and backbone,” she said.

Trump’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina has told CNN that Trump, who is reported to be in Florida currently, will likely be arraigned early next week.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Bragg’s office for comment.

Article cross-posted from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.

Conservatives are faced with a dilemma. Many of us did not support Dr. Oz because his history does not demonstrate anything that even resembles America First patriotism. Some have been turned off by the fact that immediately after winning the primary on the back of President Trump’s endorsement, he removed Trump from his campaign website homepage, listing him only among other endorsements. Before the primary, he invoked Trump on a daily basis on social media. Since then, he’s made more mentions of RINOs like Nikki Haley and Brian Fitzpatrick than Trump.

Dr. Oz seems like the type of Uniparty Establishment shill who will be in Mitch McConnell’s pocket the moment he’s in the Capitol Building. Many America First patriots choose not to support such candidates even if the alternative is the Democrat. But here’s the thing. John Fetterman is not just a guy with a (D) next to his name. His ideology is so far to the left he’d make Bernie Sanders blush. He was a full-blown radical even before his stroke. There’s no telling where he stands today.

As much as it pains me to do, I will no longer be attacking Dr. Oz. I’m generally not a “lesser of two evils” voter, but when one of the two evils in a race is at best Neo-Marxist and at worst a Neo-Marxist with brain damage, question Dr. Oz’s loyalties or policy commitments becomes secondary.

I’m not alone in coming to this conclusion. As Jenna Ellis noted on Twitter:

For every Republican saying they won’t vote for Oz… Ron DeSantis put it best yesterday:

“If Pennsylvania elects Fetterman, they’ll have made a huge, 6-year mistake.”

— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) August 20, 2022

If this was a congressional race, I’d completely ignore it. I won’t support a RINO over a future member of The Squad because doing so only rewards the Uniparty Swamp by giving them their Establishment shill victory. Perhaps more importantly, it sets up a RINO to potentially get promoted to Senator or Governor, and we definitely do not need more RINOs in those important seats.

But as Ellis and Ron DeSantis noted, this is a six-year commitment… or is it. Do we really expect Fetterman to last that long in office when he can’t speak in complete sentences today? Not that I want to throw out more factors to consider, but if Doug Mastriano wins the gubernatorial race and Fetterman vacates his seat, Pennsylvania does not obligate the governor to appoint someone from the same party.

On the flip side, if Fetterman wins the Senate seat and Josh Shapiro wins the governor’s race, I would see it as very likely that Fetterman would resign quickly and be replaced by his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman. That would be a disaster.

Some say Dr. Oz would be the lesser of two evils. I like to see him as risk reduction. We know John Fetterman (or Gisele Barreto Fetterman if she replaces him) will be awful. Dr. Oz may just be mediocre, and I’m okay with that.