Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) walks to a luncheon with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Building on February 27, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Despite a tepid history with former President Donald Trump, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is among the Republican lawmakers who are trying to dismiss the jury trial and verdict that declared the presumptive GOP nominee guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in order to sway the 2016 election.
In the hours after the news broke on Thursday, Maine Republicans—and those across the country — rushed to brand the trial as politically motivated.
In a statement sent to The Hill, Collins said, “It is fundamental to our American system of justice that the government prosecutes cases because of alleged criminal conduct regardless of who the defendant happens to be. In this case the opposite has happened.”
Collins went on to say that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “campaigned on a promise to prosecute Donald Trump” and “brought these charges precisely because of who the defendant was rather than because of any specified criminal conduct.”
Trump found guilty on 34 felony counts in NY hush money trial
“The political underpinnings of this case further blur the lines between the judicial system and the electoral system,” she added, noting the verdict “likely will be the subject of a protracted appeals process.”
Her response mirrored that of many Republican officials, and Trump himself, who have painted this and other trials pending against the former president as a “sham” and a “witchhunt.”
However, according to PolitiFact, Collins’ characterization of Bragg is not accurate.
The investigation into the Trump Organization’s role in hush money payments made to actress Stormy Daniels began in 2019 under Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance, Jr. During the campaign for that office, Bragg and other candidates were routinely asked how they would handle the investigation.
Bragg’s responses usually centered on his previous work as a chief deputy attorney general for New York state investigating Trump and his administration.
In one oft-cited exchange, Bragg said, “I’m ready to go wherever the facts take me, and to inherit that case.”
When asked if he believes Trump should be convicted, he replied: “I believe we have to hold him accountable. I haven’t seen all the facts beyond the public, but I’ve litigated with him and so I’m prepared to go where the facts take me once I see them, and hold him accountable.”
Collins’ office did not immediately respond to a question about whether she stands by her statement regarding Bragg.
Unlike many of her Republican colleagues, Collins has not always publicly backed the former president. While Collins has never said whether she voted for him in the 2020 election, earlier this year she endorsed his rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and said she would not be voting for him in November.
In 2021, she was one of just seven Republicans who voted during the impeachment trial to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to stop the counting of electoral votes.
In response to the verdict, the other members of Maine’s congressional delegation issued statements upholding the trial process and focused on the severity of the conviction.
“This process, +the trials to come, has reaffirmed that no one is above the law,” U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, wrote on X. She added that she’s “grateful for the fortitude and courage of the jurors who spent many long days fulfilling their civic duty.”
“While our country is facing many challenges, now is a moment to have some faith in our democracy and this important exercise of the rule of law,” Pingree said.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden issued a statement saying that he respects the jury’s decision.
“In this case, former President Trump has had his day in court and has been found guilty by a jury of his peers,” Golden said.
U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the trial was an example of “equal justice under the law.”
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