Hawley, who many blame for Jan. 6, dismisses Trump indictment. What do other KC lawmakers say?

Former President Donald Trump’s efforts to hold on to power — and his false claims of widespread voter fraud — fueled an insurrection at the Capitol that forced lawmakers to evacuate and delayed the certification of the 2020 presidential election for hours, according to an indictment returned by a grand jury in Washington on Tuesday.

But despite being witnesses and victims of the violence that occurred that day, congressional Republicans were quick to cast the indictment as a routine effort by the Justice Department to undermine Trump while he’s leading the Republican primary to challenge President Joe Biden in 2024.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, wrote on X, the website formerly known as Twitter, that the indictment was an example of the Biden administration politicizing the Justice Department.

“Biden DOJ unveils the latest effort to stop Trump from running against Biden - totally unprecedented in American history,” Hawley wrote.

The indictment says Trump and his allies called senators and at least one representative after his supporters had already stormed the Capitol and asked them to continue to delay the certification of the election. It is unclear if Hawley was one of the senators called. Trump had attempted to call him in the morning, according to presidential call logs from the day, but Hawley said he missed the call.

In the aftermath of the insurrection, Hawley was widely blamed for helping to incite it. He was the first senator to say he would object to the certification of the results — citing a legal technicality in Pennsylvania that was dismissed by the courts — and raised a fist to protesters outside the Capitol on the morning of the insurrection.

Video obtained by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol later showed Hawley, like most of the senators, running from the Senate chamber as the mob approached.

The indictment, unsealed Tuesday evening, contains four counts against Trump for conspiracy and for attempting to obstruct an official proceeding. It comes as the Justice Department has aggressively pursued cases against the people who entered the Capitol on January 6, 2021, indicting around 1,000 people who breached the Capitol that day.

The charges against Trump contain the most serious allegations yet, that he conspired to block the certification of the election, and are the first that center around his time in office. Legal experts say the case challenges a fundamental tenant of the justice system, that no one is above the law.

This is the third indictment against Trump. Trump faces an unrelated federal indictment related to his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House and a separate criminal case in New York City for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money paid to cover up an affair.

Hawley has said he doesn’t believe Trump should be charged for his role in the Capitol attack because he already underwent an impeachment trial in the Senate and was acquitted. Seven Senate Republicans found Trump guilty along with every Democrat, but it fell short of the two-thirds majority necessary to convict him.

Democrats have long condemned Trump’s actions during the lead-up to the Capitol attack and have repeatedly called for the legal process to run its course.

Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat who barricaded herself in a dark office while the attack unfolded, said it’s an experience she’ll remember for the rest of her life.

“I guess I think of this in two different ways,” Davids told The Star at an event in Olathe Wednesday. “One is like, as a human, the personal impact that January 6 had on me and my family and the people in my office. But then there’s the piece about, look, I think that whether we’re talking about Donald Trump or any other person, like no one’s above the law, and I think as we watch this case play out, the investigation into everything, I think like a lot of other Americans I’m going to be watching to see what’s going on.”

Special prosecutor Jack Smith Tuesday night tied Trump’s indictment to the work the Justice Department has done on other January 6 cases, calling the attack an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy that was fueled by lies.

“Since the attack on our capitol, the Department of Justice has remained committed to ensuring accountability for those criminally responsible for what happened that day,” Smith said. “This case is brought consistent with that commitment and our investigation of other individuals continues.”

The indictment includes six co-conspirators, one of whom is attorney John Eastman, who attempted to solicit help from Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who was a private citizen at the time, in his effort to overturn the results. Kobach said Eastman’s claim would likely lose in court.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat whose office was broken into that day and whose name was chanted threateningly by some in the crowd, attributed the indictment to work done by the Select Committee.

“Through the meticulous and patriotic work of the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack, evidence was uncovered about the sinister plot to overturn the presidential election and prevent the peaceful transfer of power, which culminated in deadly insurrection,” Pelosi wrote in a statement. “Now, following the Justice Department’s further investigation, a federal grand jury has indicted the former President.”

But the former president’s legal troubles have had little impact on his standing in the presidential primary. Instead, as most of his primary opponents have avoided attacking him over his legal issues, Trump’s lead has grown significantly.

Hawley, who has said he believes Trump’s nomination appears inevitable, has said the indictments have done little to affect the race because people’s opinions of Trump are solidified. He said the people who don’t like Trump are happy about the indictments and that the people who love Trump see them as political, while those somewhere in the middle see it as more political noise around a man who’s entire political career has always been tumultuous.

Davids and Republican Sen. Jerry Moran were the only members of the Kansas delegation who voted to certify the results of the election. Moran did not respond to a request for comment.

Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican who voted to block the certification of results in Pennsylvania and Arizona, claimed the indictment meant there was no longer equal justice under the law.

“The DOJ has become nothing more than an agent of the Biden crime family,” Marshall wrote on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. “The timing of today’s indictment against Trump is so clearly an attempt to distract from yesterday’s bombshell testimony against Joe & Hunter Biden that exposed clear, undeniable corruption. Americans are exhausted and tired of the charade.”

All three of the Kansas Republicans in the House — Reps. Ron Estes, Jake LaTurner and Tracey Mann — voted to block the certification of the 2020 election. None of them responded to a request for comment about the indictment.

Three current members of Missouri’s House delegation voted to block the certification of the election — Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer, Sam Graves and Jason Smith. None of them responded to a request for comment.

Rep. Eric Burlison, a freshman Republican from Missouri who serves on the House Oversight Committee, which is currently investigating the foreign business dealings of Biden’s son, Hunter, claimed without evidence that the indictment is part of a cover-up.

“Once again, the politicized and weaponized DOJ is running cover for the Biden family,” Burlison said. “Every time we uncover more information about the Biden family’s corruption, the DOJ attacks President Trump. This is just another act of election interference in an attempt to harm President Trump in 2024. The American people see right through this sham.”

The House investigation has thus far failed to directly implicate the president. A plea deal involving Hunter Biden’s violation of tax laws fell through under scrutiny from a judge last month.