By David Velazquez
Casper Star-Tribune
Via- Wyoming News Exchange
CASPER — Wyoming’s elected officials are standing with former President Donald Trump after he was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in a New York case.
Trump, who is seeking to win the presidency in November, is facing up to 4 years in prison for trying to illegally influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn actor who claimed they had sex in 2006.
Wyoming senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis both released statements on social media platforms on Thursday stating that Democrats are weaponizing the justice system.
“This hasn’t been a trial; this has been a biased political persecution from the start. Democrats’ ability to successfully weaponize our judicial system to silence a political opponent should scare every single American,” Lummis said in a statement on Facebook.
Lummis also added that the decision “does irreparable damage to Americans’ trust in our judicial system by undermining the Constitution for political gain.”
In a statement on X (formerly known as twitter), Barrasso stated that “Democrats are weaponizing the justice system against a political opponent,” but added that “elections are decided in voting booths, not courtrooms.”
Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman attacked the judge presiding over the case and called the case “the liberal Democrats’ desperate gasp to win a presidential election that they will ultimately lose.”
“Judge Juan Merchan, an activist judge, whose daughter has made over $9 million from the Biden/Harris campaign, presided over a trial where he blocked key witnesses, testimony, and facts by the defense and provided slanted jury instructions prior to the jury deliberating the case,” Hageman said on X. “The American people will see this for what it is, Donald Trump will ultimately have the verdict overturned on appeal, and we must all ensure that this abuse of the legal system is never allowed to happen again.”
Merchan’s daughter works for a marketing firm that has done business for progressive clients; she has not been paid personally, according to media reports.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and Secretary of State Chuck Gray joined the Wyoming congressional delegation in expressing support for Trump.
“I am extraordinarily disappointed that our justice system is being used so obviously in an attempt to influence our elections,” Gordon stated. “Voters will choose the next president, not a New York jury. This case has damaged Americans’ confidence in an impartial judiciary.”
Gray on X blasted the verdict and said it would be “overturned on appeal and the ballot box.”
“Today’s ‘verdict’ is absolutely bogus, disgusting, and a catastrophe to the legal system in America. The Left has [sic] weopanized the legal system against President Donald J. Trump and the American people,” Gray said. “This ‘verdict’ is left-wing election interference and a threat to the very foundations of our republic. President Trump is 100% innocent.”
Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
