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Reaction to the 34-count indictment against former President Donald Trump and his responding not-guilty plea has largely split along party lines here in Lee County.

Republican leaders question both the propriety and veracity of the felony counts filed against Trump by the Manhattan District Attorneys Office after presentation to a grand jury.

Democrats point out that the grand jury found there was cause to proceed with the case, which alleges that Trump falsified business records while in the act of violating campaign finance laws in a hush-money scheme ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

And the Libertarian Party rep points out that while many members disapproved of Trump, there are questions aplenty in the unprecedented and seemingly weak indictment based primarily on the testimony of a convicted liar.

There are few of us (if any) Libertarians who approve of Trump when President due to his frivolous spending, anti-2A actions and statements, not firing Dr. Fauci, while also funding Big Pharma during the insane Lockdown era. The current indictment, when weighed against his previous behavior, seems a bit minuscule in stature. Yet, a former President faces charges, so let us analyze, said Michael Higgins, chair of the Libertarian Party of Lee County in response to a Breeze query.

Alvin Bragg Jr., the Prosecutor on this case, is a popularly elected official of Manhattan (88% D, 12% R) who graduated at Harvard. He is known to be astute and diligent when dealing with cases, Higgins wrote. This indictment however, contains 34 felony charges which are all 1 paragraph recreated 34 times lacking information on dates, names, or chain of events other than describing the crime of Corporate funds being used to pay off a Campaign debt (presumably Stormy Daniels hush money and Karen McDougal kill story). Keep in mind this case was in front of Federal Attorney General Merrick Garland 3 years now and he never brought forward charges. So why would NYC?

A conviction may be hard, he added.

An indictment against the former President of the United States is unprecedented, especially in the middle of a Presidential campaign. The Prosecutors main witness is a convicted liar. This does note bode well (or) seem like a strong case for a Judge and Grand Jury to weigh upon. The Prosecutor may be accused of interfering with the 2024 Presidential Election. Trump could easily claim he mismanaged Corporate funds to save his narrative rather than it be politically motivated. I believe it will be hard to convict Trump, even with an Manhattan jury.

Higgins reiterated his reasoning.

This 1 paragraph repeated 34 times is vague indictment, seems like a weak case due to the circumstances forementioned, and will likely help the former President look stronger in the end if he wins. The pending Mar-a-Lago case may be more challenging, even though Hillary Clinton, Obama, and Joe Biden have allegedly mismanaged classified documents without prosecution themselves but hey, What difference does it make?!'

The one glimmer?

The one positive we can all gather from this indictment is it setting a new standard for arresting bad politicians in high places no matter who they are, Higgins said.

Kari Lerner, chair of the Democratic Party of Lee County, said simply that laws apply to everyone regardless of position held or achieved.

No one is above the law, the grand jury found cause to bring charges, she said when reached by phone Wednesday. It was not a political party the grand jury looked at the evidence and there was evidence to indicate that crimes were committed.

Republican leaders, though, call foul, saying not only is the pursuit of the case politically motivated, but that it hits at the underpinning of democracy.

Tara Jenner, vice chair Lee County Republican Executive Committee, said understanding how the grand jury process works puts the indictment in context.

First off, an indictment by a grand jury is brought down when a prosecutor presents his case, she said when reached by phone. And the defense has no option of presenting any information and the prosecutor has no obligation to provide any exculpatory information, either. So its extremely one-sided and just think about it they dont have to tell you about any exculpatory information at all.

While the grand jury indicted, this does not mean the prosecution proved its case. That will be determined only at trial.

In this country youre innocent until proven guilty and the full burden is on the prosecutor, she added.

She said she read the indictment documents and the lack of specificity related to the charges is especially concerning as is the redundancy of the 34 counts.

It says nothing, Jenner said, adding there are some serious questions concerning statute limitations, among other things.

In my mind it is coming across as politicizing the judicial system, which is tantamount the election tampering, she said. The timing is circumspect why now, whats going on now?

Manhattan District Attorney Braggs is undermining our democracy and American principles by using his office to press felony charges against a former Republican President past the statute of limitations, said Olivia Erfman-Tenzel, president of the Southwest Florida Young Republicans via email in response to a Breeze query.

The indictment of President Trump is clearly an effort by the democratic establishment to undermine the Republican Party in the 2024 election. Their tactic is to attack our American values and our own citizens by weaponizing the FBI and District attorneys offices across the Nation.

She added this is not only an attack on Trump.

Deploying federal and state agencies to attack political opposition is a page out of the authoritarian playbook, Erfman-Tenzel wrote. Millions of Americans have fled authoritarian regimes to seek a life where freedom of speech, religion, and assembly, are fundamentally protected. A life where you can disagree with your government and not be incarcerated for it.

We must take these actions against President Trump seriously because it is a direct attack on every American and the freedoms we sadly have taken for granted.

Congressman Byron Donalds, R-19, a strong supporter of Trump who represents most of Lee and Collier counties, accused Bragg of making the criminal prosecution a political act.

In the U.S. we DO NOT turn the criminal justice system against political opponents, Donalds stated on Twitter where he also remarked that today is an infamous day in American history on Tuesday, the day Trump appeared for his arraignment on charges of falsifying business records in the first degree.

I am NOT Impressed by DA Braggs indictment. This is a man who ran for Manhattan DA on getting Donald Trump, not safe streets in New York City. His political mindset is tainted & he is trying to become a star as the one who arrested Trump, he tweeted.

Trump will be in Fort Myers on Friday, April 21, at the Caloosa Sound & Convention Center where he will be the keynote speaker at the Lee GOPs 2023 Lincoln Reagan Dinner.

This is neither a campaign event nor a fundraiser for the former president, Jenner emphasized.

Other speakers will include Congressman Byron Donalds, Congressman Greg Stube, Roger Stone and Michael Thompson.

The event sold out but, through some reorganization of seating, an extra row of tables has been added and at press time there were some tickets remaining.

Visit LeeGOP.org for tickets or additional information on the Lincoln Reagan Dinner, an event held by local Republic Party organizations nationally as a fundraiser for their respective events and activities.

Nathan Mayberg contributed to this report.

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