Trump’s potential arrest distracts from legislative priorities at House GOP retreat

ORLANDO, Fla. – News of the potential arrest of Former President Donald Trump stole the show Monday at the House GOP conference retreat as reporters peppered lawmakers with questions about the shocking development that was revealed by Trump himself over the weekend.

“What role does Donald Trump play in the Republican party?” asked one reporter.

“Is [the possible indictment] politically motivated?” asked another.

Set in sunny Florida – an ideal spot to attract both Congress members and reporters during Spring break – the GOP conference planned media events throughout the retreat Monday to broadcast its policy priorities for its relatively new majority in the House.

“This retreat is really a working retreat, looking at the past few months but planning for big issues like the debt ceiling, like making sure that we are countering communist China and strengthening our national security, making sure that we have a strong border security package, which will be coming in the coming months,” GOP conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Ny.) told The Post.

But instead of those policies taking center stage during many of the retreat’s press events, it was Trump’s Saturday claim that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office plans to indict him on charges related to providing porn star Stormy Daniels hush money to keep quiet about their alleged sexual affair ahead of his 2016 presidential campaign.

Republicans weigh in

Asked for his thoughts on Trump during a press conference on House Republicans’ priorities, Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) said the potential indictment “seems rather political,” accusing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of being soft on crime only when it fits a progressive agenda.

“Here we have a DA who’s used to taking felonies and reducing them to misdemeanors and now we have a non-crime being elevated to a felony,” Giménez said. “If it is political, then that’s a tragedy because that’s what happens in third world countries.”

No reporters asked Giménez about the actual topic he’d spoken to earlier in the press conference: the GOP’s plans to address the economy.

The conference’s team succeeded in getting more than 100 reporters to RSVP to cover the retreat even before Trump announced Saturday that he would be indicted this week, conference spokeswoman Ali Black said.

Press were encouraged to make the trip to learn about the new House majority’s top priorities for this legislative session.

But the top issues legislators discussed among themselves behind closed doors at the retreat – the economy and national debt, securing the Southern border and addressing the banking crisis – each took a back seat as the former president repeatedly posted messages to Truth Social denying any crimes.

“They [sic] are MANY years beyond the Statute of Limitations which, in this instance, is TWO YEARS,” Trump posted early Monday. “More importantly, THERE WAS NO CRIME!!!”

Later, Trump accused Bragg of political bias and claimed that “Republicans and Conservatives are more UNITED than they have been in many years.”

But lawmakers at the retreat were split over Trump’s call for protests if he is arrested. While House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday said he didn’t “think people should protest” the possible indictment, other GOPers such as Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) encouraged “peaceful” protests.

“What we’re dealing with here now is a rogue, left-wing radical prosecutor – who by the way refuses to prosecute serious crime in the state – who now has decided for political reasons to go after a former president now,” Diaz-Balart said.

Still the congressman put distance between Trump and the rest of the GOP when asked what role the former president and 2024 presidential candidate plays in the party.

“I have great respect for the former president of the United States, but as far as ,you know, who the leader of the party is, I will tell you right now: I think the leader of the party is the Speaker of the House,” Diaz-Balart said. “It’s the highest-ranking elected [Republican,] you know? He’s the second vice president of the country – right second line to the presidency.”

“But I again, I hope that this road left wing prosecutor does not go forward with something that we are used to seeing in places like Russia, but we’ve never seen the United States because that will be disruptive,” he added.

Asked for his thoughts on the possible prosecution at an afternoon press briefing, McCarthy expressed exasperation at the “political games” played over Trump.

“It’s politically motivated. You think it’s good for the country? You think it’s good for the rule of law?” the Speaker said. “I’m tired of playing political games and [Democrats] using ‘I’ve got power, so I’m going to use it.’ Have you seen us do something like that [since] we took office?”

Unity and policy

Despite opposing stances among some Republicans, Stefanik said the GOP will become more united should Bragg follow through on the indictment.

“You have a radical district attorney in Alvin Bragg – who was funded by George Soros by over a million dollars – taking up what’s considered a ‘zombie case’ … going after Joe Biden’s leading political opponent,” she said. “I believe that’s going to be unifying for Republicans but frankly unifying for the American people in the sense that people understand when there’s not equal justice under the law.”

The conference chair – who said she spoke with Trump Monday morning – called pending prosecution “the epitome of the weaponization of the federal government against their political opponents.”

Despite the news cycle disruption, several legislators said discussions during closed-door policy sessions at the retreat were productive. For example, House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said Republican lawmakers made progress in discussing plans for the 2024 federal budget.

“We’ve got to work through all the details, but there are tremendous opportunities on the debt-ceiling side, on the discretionary budget and on the longterm budget framework,” he said. “The goals are the same: reduce spending, reduce the debt-to-GDP and restore fiscal responsibility in our nation’s capital.”

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) agreed, noting that several lawmakers said the session on the economy, debt crisis and the budget “was the best panel that they’ve been a part of,” commending the conference for working together in a unified way.

“Our panel was supposed to just be an hour and 30 minutes – it lasted for 30 minutes longer than that because of the family discussion,” he said. “We’ve made it a point that that how we legislate in this conference – it’s 222 [House Republicans], and that’s how we’ll move whether it’s the budget or whether it’s the debt limit.”

Stefanik agreed, saying that House Republicans are “more unified than ever before” because they are free to discuss their concerns with each other, as seen in the drawn out House Speaker elections that spotlighted the internal debate between far-right and traditional Republican lawmakers

“You’re seeing that legislatively, you’re seeing [it in] the committees’ work, you’re also seeing for the first time in the past few Speakers, we’ve never had an open rule, which means an open amendment process,” she said. “Even Democrats are hailing our leadership in terms of how we’re running the institution and fixing the institution so that it works for the American people.”

As Trump dominates headlines, Stefanik said the GOP conference will be “consistently focused on the issues that the American people care about: inflation, bringing our budget back to balance, safety in our communities, securing the border, standing up for the Constitution, making sure that we have strong national security and peace through strength to counter a rising Chinese Communist Party.”

“We are the last backstop for the American people from single-party Democrat rule,” she added.