North Texas political party leaders react to Donald Trump indictment
PLANO (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Area political party leaders are expressing some surprising views on the Trump indictment.
When the news arrived at the Plano headquarters of Collin County's Republican Party, the reaction to Donald Trump's indictment was a condemnation.
Not of the former president, but rather the current justice system in America.
"Honestly...it really has nothing to do with Trump. You look at it, it's you can see it's one of the most disgraceful days in our country's politics," said Collin County GOP Chair Abraham George.
George also says it will lead to open season for local prosecutors to now go after other high level office holders.
Local democrats were reluctant to see the indictment as a political victory.
"Justice sometimes takes a slow path," said Collin County Democratic Party Precinct Chair Steven Spainhouer. "In this case, the former president should be treated just like any other person and allowed his day in court."
One thing local Republican and Democratic leaders seem to agree on is that the indictment likely won't hurt Trump's support here in Texas
But Democrats believe it could start to chip away.
"There are people who are going to support Donald Trump no matter what happens and then there are some Republicans who are more clear, thinking you were gonna say you know what, it's time to look for another type of leader in our party. I hope we have the latter," said Spainhouer.
The sight of a former president facing a criminal charge and possibly going on trial is something the country has never experienced.
A former federal prosecutor says that alone will make it difficult to get a conviction.
"It strikes me as a challenging case for a number of reasons," said former federal prosecutor Andrew Wirmani. "The defendant here is the former President of the United States, and a current political candidate about a year and a half before the election. So, putting aside the facts of the laws. I think that just inherently creates challenges with the prosecution."
