May 30—In Maine’s hotly contest 2nd District congressional race, reaction to the guilty verdict on 34 separate felony counts in Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s New York trial split on partisan lines.

While the two Republican contenders for the U.S. House seat slammed the court case, three-term U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Lewiston Democrat, issued a statement defending it.

“In this case, former President Trump has had his day in court and has been found guilty by a jury of his peers. I respect the jury’s decision,” Golden said in a prepared statement.

But Mike Soboleski, a Phillips Republican, said the conviction by a 12-person jury “marks a disheartening moment for our judicial system.”

“This trial is a disgrace, straying far from the fundamental principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty,'” the first-term state representative said in a prepared release.

“The irreparable damage done to the integrity of our judicial system is deeply troubling,” Soboleski said.

The other GOP congressional hopeful, state Rep. Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, called the trial a sham “forced on us by paid political operatives and presided over by a judge with close ties to the Democrats’ election apparatus.”

Theriault, who faces Soboleski in a June 11 primary, said in a social media post that “it’s sad that our justice system looks like a banana republic under Joe Biden, and I know that fairness will be restored under President Donald Trump,” a twice-impeached, convicted felon who is slated for sentencing in July.

Golden added in his news release that “as to the many questions I’ve received about the politics of this decision, let me say this: As of today, Donald Trump is the Republican candidate for president. I have no doubt that information about this verdict will feature in the campaign. I trust the people of Maine with their votes.”

Maine’s other member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat in the 1st District, issued a statement that said the conviction “marks a solemn and unprecedented moment in American history. “

“A former president — and the leading Republican nominee for President — has been fairly tried by a jury of his peers and convicted on 34 felony counts,” she said in a prepared release. “This process, and the trials to come, has reaffirmed that no one is above the law.”

“I am grateful for the fortitude and courage of the jurors who spent many long days fulfilling their civic duty,” Pingree said. “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.”

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