Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Pledges “strong efforts [by Democrats] to block a single dollar of funds at Treasury from going into [Trump’s ‘absolutely outrageous’ $1.8B] slush fund”

Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11), last night on Fox’s (I know, ugh!) “The Final Five”:

• “Well, first, we have to just acknowledge how absolutely outrageous this [Trump ‘anti-weaponization’ fund] is. The president sued the American people. Really? He didn’t sue Joe Biden or Barack Obama or James Walkinshaw. He sued the American people for $10 billion. Then he engaged in a negotiation with his own Department of Justice, who clearly works for him, unlike previous Departments of Justice that maintained some independence. The result of that negotiation is this $1.8 billion slush fund that Trump’s allies will control and dole out, frankly, to his preferred political actors, including, we’re sure, the January 6th insurrectionists that beat up police officers. It’s absolutely outrageous. What can we do? So Democrats like myself, more than 100 of us, filed a brief in court to try to block this settlement from moving forward. We’re pursuing the judicial angle. Congress is in the midst right now of the FY2027 appropriations process, and I can promise you that there will be strong efforts to block a single dollar of funds at Treasury from going into this slush fund or any other slush fund.”
• “And they conceded today that Republican members of Congress could be eligible. So we could have Republican members of Congress, you know, dipping their cup into this public trough of taxpayer money as well. We could have some of the January 6th insurrectionists who were pardoned by Donald Trump and are now out in communities across the country committing crimes, including sexually abusing children. They’re eligible to get this taxpayer money. This is something everyone should be outraged about, whether you’re a Democrat, Independent or Republican, whether you voted for Donald Trump or not. He’s using your hard-earned money to pay off his political allies.”
• “Well, everyone who was prosecuted with respect to January 6th had their day in court. In fact, they had multiple days in court. If they were prosecuted and charged, they went before a judge and/or a jury. They had the opportunity to present their defense. The evidence was presented against them, and many of them were found guilty by a jury of their peers. That’s our process. It wasn’t the Biden administration that sentenced them. It was the judicial system, including judges and juries, judges appointed by Republicans. So they had their opportunity. Many of them had appeals. Some are still appealing. That’s the process. They don’t get a taxpayer check at the end of the process because they didn’t succeed in proving their innocence.”
• “To my knowledge, this is absolutely unprecedented. And, look, we already had the Supreme Court determine that, you know, the president can’t commit any crimes if it’s in his official duties. Now, we have Donald Trump’s Department of Justice basically saying he can cheat on his taxes, and no one’s even allowed to take a look at it and audit it. It’s a different set of rules for Donald Trump than the rest of the American people have. So for the American people out there watching, know that you can be subject to an IRS audit consistent with the law. The only person in this country who’s above that law, apparently, is Donald Trump.”
• “What I would say to [Trump supporters] is, in each of those instances, President Trump had his day or days in court. He was found civilly liable of sexual abuse by a court, not by Democrats. In each of the instances, a court determined that Donald Trump violated the law – not Democrats, courts.”