U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, center, cuts the ribbon at his new congressional district office in Canfield. Joining him, from left, are Boardman Trustee Tom Costello; Dawn Baker, Johnson’s director of outreach; state Rep. Nick Santucci; Heidi Matthews, Johnson’s director of constituent services; his wife, LeeAnn; Ben Keeler (behind Johnson), his communications director; Clark Hergenrother, a staff assistant; Sarah Keeler, his district director; state Rep. Al Cutrona; and Austintown Trustee Robert Santos.

CANFIELD — U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson called the 34-count indictment of former President Donald Trump “an illegitimate case” and an abuse of the legal system.

“I’m going to wait to see how this pans out, but this is unprecedented,” said Johnson, R-Marietta, on Wednesday in an interview with The Vindicator after the ribbon cutting of his new district office in Canfield.

“It sets a very, very uncomfortable precedent for any future president, including the current one, that they can face criminal charges after they leave office,” he added. “I think it’s crazy.”

Trump, a Republican, was indicted March 30 by a Manhattan grand jury on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records related to his alleged role in paying hush money to Stormy Daniels, a pornographic film actress, to not talk about sex they had. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations and says they’re politically motivated.

“To use the judicial system, the court system, just to find something to go after somebody for, especially when lawyers have told you that trying to connect a state nexus to a federal felony indictment, is nuts,” Johnson said. “I hope the courts deal with this swiftly and let’s get it out of the way. That’s not what the American people are thinking and talking about.”

Johnson has been a staunch ally of Trump.

NOT READY

TO ENDORSE

But Johnson said Wednesday he is not ready to endorse Trump, who is running next year for president. Trump has received the endorsement of six Republican U.S. senators, including J.D. Vance of Cincinnati, and 40 House members, including three in Ohio.

“Republicans all across America will determine who the nominee is going to be,” Johnson said. “He is still very popular in Ohio. If Republicans nominate Donald Trump as the next presidential candidate then that’s who I’ll be endorsing because anything is better than what we’ve got in the White House right now.”

He was referring to Democrat Joe Biden, who plans to run next year for re-election.

“I have not endorsed yet,” Johnson said. “I’m still taking a look at that as time goes on.”

RAILROAD BILL

Johnson, whose district includes East Palestine, said his bipartisan Reducing Accidents in Locomotives (RAIL) Act is “progressing well” in the House.

The bill was designed to improve rail safety in response to the Feb. 3 train derailment disaster in East Palestine that caused toxic chemicals to get into the air, soil and water.

The bill increases funding for hazardous materials training for first responders, increases maximum penalties for violations of rail safety regulations, adds more inspections of all trains and audits federal rail inspection programs as well as seeks to have federal agencies investigate rail rules and recommend changes to how the rail system operates in terms of train length, weight to speed and track standards.

The bill has bipartisan support from House members from Ohio and Johnson said he expects bipartisan support from members from outside the state.

“I’m hopeful it’s going to move through committee and come to the floor soon,” he said.

Johnson said he’s talked to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., about the bill.

While they’re noncommittal, Johnson said they are “favorable,” and have said: “Let’s let it work through the process. They see the merit in addressing rail safety.”

Johnson added that the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023, introduced by Vance and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, in the Senate with a companion bill in the House, is “dead. That’s not going to go anywhere.”

During an April 3 stop in Lowellville touting that bill, Brown said it would pass in the Senate, but it was going to be a “challenge” to convince McCarthy “to schedule it” for a vote in the House.

While saying that bill is a lost cause in the House, Johnson said of his bill: “I think we’ve got a chance.”

DISTRICT OFFICE

Johnson attended the Wednesday grand opening of his new district office in Canfield. He relocated it from Salem, where he had an office for years, because redistricting added all of Mahoning County to his district and it’s the most-populous county in the district. Before this year, Johnson’s district included a portion of Mahoning, and Columbiana was his most-populous county.

Also Wednesday, Johnson toured the Youngstown Flea and Penguin City Brewing Co. on the east end of downtown Youngstown.

PEPPEL LAWSUIT

Michael E. Peppel Jr. of Leetonia faces a seven-count civil lawsuit from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office that accuses him of allegedly setting up a “phony charity that falsely claimed” it was collecting donations for a local food bank to help East Palestine residents.

Peppel used to work part time in Johnson’s congressional office in 2017 and 2018 and served as political director for the congressman’s re-election campaign during that time.

Peppel then went to work for state Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, before leaving earlier this year for a Republican consulting firm that ended up not hiring him as a result of the allegations.

Peppel is accused by the attorney general’s office of falsely claiming a partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley to help East Palestine residents impacted by the derailment and receiving at least $141,183 from donors and giving only $10,000 to the food bank.

“He worked for us for a very short period of time,” Johnson said. “He certainly didn’t do anything like this.”

Asked if this was out of character for Peppel, Johnson said: “I don’t know if he’s guilty of anything. Let’s let it play out and see rather than rush to judgment and let the investigation play out and see if he’s done what has been reported before we jump to the criminal phase.”

When told newspaper accounts of Peppel’s alleged activity were based on what Attorney General Dave Yost said, Johnson replied: “If the AG is on to it, where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. If he’s done something illegal, he ought to be held accountable for it.”