There are weeks on Capitol Hill where one story dominates.
Last week was the defense bill.
But when the former president of the United States appears headed for another indictment, you know what prevails.
TIME IS PRIMATIC IN THE SENATE
This is not simply former President Trump doing it with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Nor does Mr. Trump face prosecution for his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
This is a likely indictment related to the unrest at the Capitol and efforts to nullify the 2020 presidential election.
And even though former President Trump hasn’t been in office for two and a half years, he still manages to control nearly every cubic centimeter of news and political conversation oxygen on Capitol Hill.
Word of additional legal action followed a familiar script on Capitol Hill. Many of the fiercest loyalists of Mr. Trump are quick to defend him. Then there were a few Republicans pivoting or slightly moving away from former President Trump. The Democrats, as usual, went all out, infuriating the former president.
“He’s absolute bulls—,” proclaimed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., one of Mr. Trump’s closest allies. trump “That’s the only way the Democrats have to beat President Trump is to arrest him. To smear him. To charge him with ridiculous and pointless charges. All they want is to cover up Joe Biden’s crimes. Hunter Biden’s crimes.”
Greene said the American justice system was “worse than some of the most corrupt countries in the third world.” He then proclaimed that Mr. Trump “has been proven innocent time and time again and will be proven innocent again.”
Former President Donald Trump reacts to cheers from the crowd during a campaign event in Pickens, SC. The former president faces a growing list of main rivals in the Republican Party. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images, file)
And now a diametrically opposed view from the Democrats.
“There will be criminal accountability for everyone who committed crimes against the government,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. “We’re talking about a violent insurgency, surrounding a privileged political coup. This is a matter of utmost urgency for the American people to make sure we never see something like this again.”
“The president was a central figure in an effort to overturn an election. An effort to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in our history,” said Trump foe Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Schiff served on the House panel investigating the 2021 riots at the Capitol. However, the California Democrat questioned why it would have taken so long to target the former president.
“They moved quickly when it came to those who broke into this building behind us and assaulted the police officers. But it seemed like almost a year, if not more, before they started looking at those who did the organizing. They did the incitement. The ones who conspired to defraud the American people.”
Schiff then suggested that the 1/6 committee “unearthed evidence that the Justice Department could not ignore.”
HOUSE REPUBLICANS TIGHTEN UP ON CONTROVERSIAL DEFENSE BILL
That said, there was consternation at one point from prosecutors that the 1/6 committee was not helpful in providing information to the DoJ for possible criminal investigations.
In fact, much of the week in Congress was about 2024, even though it didn’t feel like 2024.
The House Oversight Committee heard from two IRS whistleblowers who say Hunter Biden should have faced felony charges over his tax returns instead of a misdemeanor as part of his plea deal.
“They were recommending approval, felony and misdemeanor charges for fiscal years 2017, ’18 and ’19. That didn’t happen here. And I don’t know why,” stated IRS Agent Joseph Ziegler.
Democrats said IRS whistleblowers were not responsible for deciding who is prosecuted and what charges they might face. Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss said he had the ultimate authority to file charges. But the whistleblowers – and many Republicans – believe that the pressure from above by handcuffed prosecutors.
“We have the best two agents on the scene,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. “And then, ‘Shazam!’ Something changes.”
Surrounded by House Republicans, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the House Republican Caucus on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, in May. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images, File)
At one point in the hearing, Greene warned everyone that “viewer discretion is advised.” He then displayed lewd posters of Hunter Biden in compromising positions.
“It’s very unfortunate that Hunter Biden was paying this woman through his law firm and then passing it off as business tax breaks,” Greene said.
Republicans claim Hunter Biden’s tax woes and foreign business dealings are connected to President Biden and demonstrate rampant corruption. But before the hearing, Raskin predicted that no matter what the GOP did, they would not prove the president’s misconduct.
That’s why the hearing oozed presidential politics in 2024. Democrats claim the GOP only held the hearing to target the president.
“I think House Oversight Committee Chairman (James) Comer, R-Ky., might have to fill out an FEC form as an in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign based on what’s going on in this hearing,” proclaimed Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.
But amid the impending impeachment of former President Trump, Republicans said the hearing underscored only two standards of justice in the U.S. One for the Bidens. Another one for Mr. Trump.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, speaks with Representative Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee, during a House Oversight and Accountability hearing in Washington, Wednesday, July 19, 2023. An IRS oversight agent has claimed to lawmakers that the Justice Department mishandled the proposed investigation and that U.S. Attorney David We We We Wonging Relaware, David We We We Wonging Relaware, David, David We We Wane. (Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The DoJ, the FBI and the IRS have worked not only to protect the criminal actions of the Biden family, but to continue to pursue President Trump,” said Representative William Timmons, RS.C.
The intensity of this rhetoric will only increase when the feds formally indict the president. The scope of the indictment and what it alleges about the actions of Mr. Trump related to the election and the riots will amplify the invective that the GOP is launching against the prosecutors and the Biden Administration. And what Democrats are saying about the former president and Republicans.
That’s why some Republicans now want to eliminate the two impeachments of former President Trump. However, it is far from clear that the House would ever consider such a resolution, let alone have the votes to approve such removal.
That said, Republicans presented a big platform this week to Biden’s primary challenger in 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy, testified at a hearing on government censorship and weaponization.
“This committee has come to embody weaponry itself,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., characterized RFK Jr. as “a living, breathing, bogus false flag operation” for his views on the pandemic.
Kennedy drew criticism for declaring that COVID-19 was “engineered” to grant immunity to people of Chinese and European Jewish descent.
The week ended without an indictment against former President Trump. That gives lawmakers fodder to fight next week.
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However, there is a House Oversight Committee hearing scheduled for next Wednesday on UFOs. Perhaps this is the only matter that could overshadow the possible indictment of the former president.
Chad Pergram currently serves as Senior Congressional Correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based in Washington, DC
