WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s arraignment Tuesday drew a sharper line between allies of the former president willing to use the power of their office to defend him and Republican lawmakers who want to stay out of the way of a historic federal prosecution.
The dynamic played out in the Capitol as Trump pleaded not guilty in a Miami courthouse to 37 federal charges connected to storing classified documents at his private club, Mar-a-Lago. Republican allies of the former president have taken steps to retaliate for the investigation.
Ahead of that court hearing, Trump allies pushed to defund the special counsel leading the probe, force a floor vote to censure a Democratic lawmaker who led the first effort to impeach Trump and highlight contentions that the Justice Department has been “weaponized” in the prosecution of those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
