Hinds Today

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) has joined U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and other colleagues in sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, condemning what they describe as the evisceration of the American judicial process following the conviction of former President Donald Trump in Manhattan.

The letter, signed by 29 Senators, criticizes the legal proceedings against Trump, asserting that constitutional protections for defendants were undermined. The senators argue that due process rights guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as the Sixth Amendment right to be informed of accusations, were compromised.

"In their zeal to imprison Donald Trump, Democrat prosecutors successfully dissolved the constitutional protections afforded to defendants and the barriers that protect every American from the abuses of arbitrary rule," states the letter.

The senators also questioned Judge Juan Merchan's impartiality due to his financial contributions to Democratic candidates and causes. They criticized prosecutors for converting alleged time-lapsed business records misdemeanors into felonies without specifying what second crime these violations furthered.

"Due process cannot exist when the defendant is accused of a secret crime," they wrote. "No American – not even a President – can defend himself fairly in a court of law if he is deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to know what crime he is alleged to have committed."

The letter accuses the Biden Administration of being complicit in this perceived destruction of due process, suggesting that Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) violations might be involved—a jurisdiction outside New York State prosecutor Alvin Bragg's authority.

"We condemn this show trial... because it threatens the existence of due process of law, without which a constitutional republic dedicated to the protection of individual liberty is not possible," concludes the letter.

Among those who signed are U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Josh Hawley(R-Mo.).