Chuck Grassley: Let voters decide on Trump indictment

Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley wants to let the voters decide whether former President Donald Trump should be condemned after being indicted on charges he mishandled classified documents.

Grassley steered clear of doing that himself in a Wednesday call with reporters.

He said Wednesday he did not want to make comments that would alienate any Republican presidential candidates as they campaign in Iowa over the next several months.

“I want everybody to feel free to come to Iowa to campaign,” Grassley said. “And so I'm going to leave the political aspect of this up to the voters.”

Iowa Republicans will hold the first-in-the-nation caucuses in early 2024, kicking off the national Republican primaries. Trump, who faces 37 federal charges on top of other legal battles, is the current front-runner in national and Iowa primary polling for the Republican nomination for president.

On the charges laid out in the indictment, Grassley said “secure documents ought to be secure,” regardless of who possesses them.

Asked whether Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents should disqualify him from being president, Grassley said it’s too early to say.

“We're just getting into the campaigns, and I think you can't draw any conclusions. I think time’s going to answer your question,” he said when asked if he’s concerned over the prospect of Trump being president again. “Maybe if you asked me six months from now, I might give you a different answer.”

Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the charges, which allege that he illegally kept national security documents in his private home at Mar-a-Lago after leaving the presidency. Prosecutors say the documents include nuclear information and a “plan of attack” against a foreign country, the latter of which he allegedly showed to a writer in an interview.

He also is accused of obstructing a government investigation to retrieve the documents, directing a staffer to move boxes containing classified materials and suggesting that a lawyer should hide or destroy documents prosecutors were seeking.

Grassley, along with other Republican officials in Iowa, said he's heard from Iowans who are concerned with "unequal application of law" when it comes to Trump's indictment.

Echoing accusations Trump has made, Grassley said Wednesday he thinks special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the investigation into the classified documents case, has shown bias against Republicans in his prosecutions.

A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, pointed to a Twitter statement Ernst made on Friday when the indictment was released.

"Biden promised to unify, but instead he’s further politicized the justice system, sowing more doubt in American institutions," Ernst said in that tweet. “Iowans are fed up & want to restore confidence in our justice system.”

Comments: cmccullough@qctimes.com