Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) ridiculed his Republican colleagues for defending Donald Trump after the former president was indicted for allegedly mishandling classified documents and obstructing federal officials seeking control of those documents.
“The house Republican conference is in shambles,” Aguilar began a Tuesday press conference. “They’ve barely gained control of the floor, and we head into a week and they jump head first into defending the corrupt leader of their party.”
Aguilar, who serves as the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, made the comment as Trump appeared in a Miami federal court on Tuesday for an arraignment on a 37-count federal indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Several Republican lawmakers have referred to the indictment as the result of a “witch hunt.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has called news of the indictment “a dark day for the United States of America” and a “brazen weaponization of power.”
Aguilar dismissed Republican criticisms of the process to charge Trump and said the former president will be held to a consistent legal standard and be able to argue in his own defense. While Aguilar said Trump could make his case in a court of law, he knocked Republicans currently defending Trump in the court of public opinion.
Dismisses Biden Bribery Allegations
Though Aguilar knocked Republicans supporting Trump and emphasized the serious nature of the criminal allegations during his Tuesday press conference, the prominent Democratic lawmaker defended President Joe Biden against recent bribery allegations.Last month, Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Senate Budget Committee ranking GOP member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) revealed that the FBI possessed an unclassified document that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-vice president Joe Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions. After subpoenas and threats to hold FBI director Chris Wray in contempt of Congress, the FBI granted lawmakers access to the unclassified document.
During a speech on the Senate floor on Monday, Grassley reiterated allegations that a foreign national had bribed then-vice president Biden and his son Hunter Biden. Grassley said this foreign national is believed to possess 17 different audio recordings of conversations with Joe and Hunter Biden, which that foreign national may be using “as a sort of insurance policy.”
“I’m not concerned about any of that,” Aguilar said of the bribery allegations.
Aguilar said House Democrats will respect the investigative efforts in Congress “even when the oversight committee goes down ridiculous rabbit holes.”
“If [Ohio representative] Jim Jordan wants to continue to... to—you know, chase rainbows—that’s fine. House Democrats are going to focus on policies that are right for the middle class,” Aguilar continued. “We often use our oversight abilities to hold agencies accountable ... that’s exactly what what we do, but this is... there’s no there’s no truth to this.”
Aguilar also said he believes average Americans aren’t concerned about the bribery allegations involving Biden and are instead focused on “pocketbook issues.”
