Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Wednesday on Newsmax that "the American people see through" Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation.
Joining "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Gaetz quoted a Reuters/Ipsos survey released Tuesday that showed about half of Americans believe the probe into a $130,000 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels is politically motivated.
"About 54% of the country — the result of a recent Reuters poll — have indicated that they believe this to be a political prosecution, and we don't want that to happen in our country," Gaetz said.
The congressman also said Republican lawmakers are "deeply concerned" that federal funds might have been "improperly used" in the investigation and that the special counsel statute requires adjusting.
"Whether it was Bill Clinton or Donald Trump, special counsels were appointed, and then very ancillary things became animated and a part of efforts to work against those two presidents," he stated.
His comments arrive as Trump allies await a New York grand jury's decision over whether to indict the former president for what prosecutors allege was a campaign finance violation.
Gaetz described separate charges recommended by the House select committee investigating Jan. 6, 2021, against Trump as discredited and representative of a similar politicization of the investigatory process.
"They really were gearing at this outcome from the start," Gaetz said. "There was no sincere legislative effort from the Jan. 6 committee. There was no purpose to try to protect the Capitol.
"The entire purpose of that committee forming was to send a criminal referral to an all-too-willing [Attorney General] Merrick Garland," the lawmaker added.
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