Fox News host Sean Hannity took aim at President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) Tuesday following the announcement that former President Donald Trump would be indicted for a third time over “clearly protected speech.”
Special Counsel Jack Smith brought new charges against Trump on Tuesday, alleging the former president conspired to defraud the United States by questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 election; conspired to obstruct and impede the January 6 proceedings; and conspired against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.
Calling the charges “completely bogus” and “not worth the paper they’re written on,” Hannah railed against Trump’s latest indictment as nothing more than political persecution.
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“This is an incredibly weak, baseless, convoluted indictment, it is bizarrely centered around what is clearly protected speech, zero criminal statutes, because there are none that were applicable that are actually written into law. It is based on an obscure law from the civil war. Let’s be even more clear, this indictment is frankly not worth the paper that it’s printed on. This is a political persecution, through and through,” Hannity argued.
Those sentiments were shared by George Washington University law professor Jonathon Turley who also contended the charges against Trump were unfounded as they were “protected speech” under the First Amendment. (RELATED: Trump Lawyer Calls Jan. 6 Indictment A ‘Direct Attack On Our Constitution’)
“When I take a red pen through material that is protected by the First Amendment, it reduces much of this to a haiku. Many of the things that the prosecutor is charging here is protected speech. It repeats a lot of the allegations in the various states, it’s unfair at points. It quotes Trump in his speech about encouraging people to go to Capitol Hill, but like the January 6th committee, it omits where he says, ‘you should go peacefully,'” Turley stated, adding that the new charges undermine the DOJ’s credibility.
Hannity argued the indictment is more or less a distraction from the bribery and corruption allegations swirling around Biden, positing that the American people could see through the “charade.”
“Joe Biden’s so-called Department of Justice, is now officially completely out of control. Biden’s AG Merrick Garland, who signed off on this charade, – remember, the Department of Justice is part of the executive Branch – they’ve now gone full banana republic. He’s not even making any attempt to present even the appearance of fairness. Garland and other Democrats in the DoJ are now trying to jail Joe Biden’s chief political opponent, all in the lead-up to an election,” Hannity contended.