(NewsNation) — A Manhattan grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump on Thursday, a decision that a spokeswoman blasted as a “sham” and evidence of a “banana republic.”
“We’re under the rule of men, very corrupt men,” Liz Harrington said on “CUOMO” in response to the indictment. “They’re a very corrupt political class that throws the law out the window and targets political opponents to take them out of a presidential race. That is the goal here, but it’s not going to work.”
The indictment is in connection to Trump’s alleged role in a hush-money payment scheme and remains under seal. The exact charges are still unknown but will likely be announced in the coming days.
The investigation dates back to 2016 when Trump allegedly directed his former lawyer Michael Cohen to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels who said she had an affair with the former president. Trump has repeatedly denied that claim.
Pushing back on Harrington’s characterization of a “banana republic,” NewsNation host Chris Cuomo noted that up to this point, the established rule of law has been followed.
“In a banana republic, they just grab you and throw you in jail,” Cuomo said.
“Chris, they may put a suit on this, they may look a little bit nicer, but this is the tactics of thugs and tyrants. They are abusing the rule of law,” Harrington replied. “They have looked at everything in this man’s life, an innocent man’s life over the past seven years, only because he got into politics, only because he started threatening their corrupt political power.”
Cohen previously pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance law in connection to the payment after giving Daniels $130,000 through a shell company that he set up.
Trump acknowledged that he paid Cohen a “monthly retainer” as part of an agreement to “stop the false and extortionist accusations” by Daniels, but denied that it had anything to do with campaign funding.
When asked if Trump’s position is that he knew nothing about what Cohen did, Harrington said, “The president’s position is completely innocent and there’s no crime here.”
She pointed to a letter authored by Cohen’s then-lawyer in 2018 stating that Cohen was not reimbursed the $130,000 payment from the Trump Organization.
“So, we know this is a sham case,” Harrington said. “It is so lawless, and they’re really trying to destroy the country in the process and we can’t let that happen.”
Lanny Davis, Cohen’s current lawyer, asserted on “CUOMO” that the case is a “very meticulously factual, documented case.”
“Wait for the facts and wait for the evidence before deciding whether Michael Cohen is credible in his testimony,” Davis said.
NewsNation writer Andrew Dorn contributed to this report.