A Manhattan grand jury voted last week to indict former President Donald Trump on 34 counts of business fraud and, much like those of the Mueller special counsel investigation into election interference or the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, reactions to the news have come with the typical partisan divide.

Democrats and Republicans nationally and locally have different opinions on the indictments, with the former generally believing Trump’s actions are catching up with him and the latter insisting these legal proceedings are a politically motivated attack orchestrated to hurt the 45th president’s reelection chances. The indictment pertains to an alleged $130,000 payment Trump made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to cover up an affair.

“It’s not a surprise, right? Trump is a constant swirl of drama and potential crime,” Pete Brown, former chair of the Greenfield Democratic Town Committee, said Monday. “I don’t know why anyone would be surprised that [the indictment] happened.”

Brown said he is pleased to see the legal system working but he is unhappy the nation is in this situation to begin with. He said he hopes Trump faces consequences if found guilty.

Trump is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in New York City.

Greenfield’s Precinct 8 Councilor Doug Mayo said the indictment disappointed him because he believes Trump has committed crimes far greater than business fraud.

“I felt that they should have gone for a much higher charge of inciting a riot, or something of that nature, connected to Jan. 6, rather than a porn star,” he said. “I would have preferred that they … go after him for inciting a riot against a nation.”

Mayo said he has heard some Trump supporters plan to travel to New York City to support him.

“That’s perfectly fine, but don’t make it a circus like Jan. 6 was,” he said. “Essentially he was caught with his pants down and had to pay $130,000 to cover it up.”

Mayo also said it bothers him that Trump was recorded in January 2021 asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” to swing that state in his favor as opposed to Joe Biden’s.

But David Lewis, who chairs the Greenfield Republican Town Committee, said he was shocked and frustrated when he learned of the indictment. He said liberals and Democrats are focused on distracting the American public from other issues, like the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“I know why it’s being done. People don’t like Trump, so they’ll go after him,” he said. “There are forces out there that are afraid of Trump. They’re afraid he’ll run again and they’re afraid he’ll win.”

When asked if he thought Trump committed a crime, Lewis said “anything’s possible.”

He also said there is a good possibility “that this whole thing could blow up” in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s face.

Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges of tax evasion, making false statements to a federally insured bank, and campaign finance violations.

Ray Younghans, Lewis’ counterpart for the Orange Republican Town Committee, attended a pro-Trump rally in Fitchburg on Sunday and said he feels the vast majority of Republican and Independent voters support Trump in his legal fight.

“You wouldn’t believe the number of people that were honking their horns … about 75% of cars going by,” he recounted on Monday. “The average person that votes is behind Trump, from what I can see. Most people feel that the trial is a kangaroo court.”

Younghans said he doesn’t understand why Bragg and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is so focused on Trump as opposed to combating violent crime in New York City. Online sources, however, indicate the city is one of the safest in the world.

Younghans said people on the political left and right concentrate too much on scandals plaguing the other side.

“We’re turning into this ‘I-got-you’ system,” he said. “These things go back and forth and they don’t resolve what’s going on in this country.”

He said the indictment could ultimately boost Trump’s popularity if the former president is eventually exonerated.

Athol resident Louis “Lou” Marino, a lifelong Republican before becoming a Libertarian four years ago, said he fully supports law and order but thinks this indictment was a politically motivated “witch hunt.”

“Doesn’t the New York grand jury have anything better to do?” he said.

Marino, who announced last month he is running to unseat U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, said he doesn’t think Trump should run for president again, but he also feels he deserves no jail time.

On the other hand, Orange resident Genevieve Fraser said she feels the indictment is justified, adding that Trump has always believed he is above the law. She, like Mayo, referenced Trump saying in January 2016 that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn’t lose any voters.” Fraser said Trump has committed far worse than business fraud and she hopes this is just the beginning of his indictments.

“He needs to be held to account for all that he is responsible for and involved with,” she said. “And that is not a partisan statement. If he was a Democrat, I would be doubly enraged.”

Fraser, like Brown, said the indictment is proof the American justice system can work.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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