On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spoke to CNN's Dana Bash about the Trump administration's prosecution of Democratic politicians.
00:00I want to ask you about something that happened in your home state of New York.
00:05In the past couple of days, Congressman Jerry Nadler said that DHS agents entered his congressional office on Wednesday without a warrant and handcuffed a member of his staff.
00:16This, of course, comes after the Trump Justice Department charged Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica MacGyver with obstructing ICE agents after an altercation at a facility in Newark, New Jersey.
00:28Now, I know you previously warned that the administration charging members of Congress was a, quote, red line.
00:34What are you doing now that the red line you talked about has apparently been crossed?
00:41Well, let me make clear that the House is a separate and co-equal branch of government, the Congress.
00:47We don't work for Donald Trump. We don't work for the administration. We don't work for Elon Musk.
00:51We work for the American people, and we have a responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch.
00:59That's the constitutional blueprint that was given to us by the framers of the United States democracy that we have inherited over the last few centuries.
01:10And so we're going to continue to undertake our congressional responsibility, notwithstanding efforts by the Trump administration to try to intimidate Democrats.
01:18It's unfortunate that our Republican colleagues continue to be nothing more than rubber stamps for Trump's reckless and extreme agenda, and the American people, I think, will ultimately reject that next year when we will take back control of the House of Representatives.
01:33In the meantime, in terms of how we will respond to what Trump and the administration has endeavored to do, we will make that decision in a time, place, and manner of our choosing.
01:47But the response will be continuous, and it will meet the moment that is required.
01:54What exactly does that mean? Have you not decided how to respond?
01:57We've publicly responded in a variety of different ways.
02:04We haven't let our foot off the gas pedal in terms of additional things that may take place with respect to our congressional oversight authority and capacity.
02:14We will respond in a time, place, and manner of our choosing if this continues to happen.
02:21You believe, as Jerry Nadler said, that the administration is trying to intimidate Democrats?
02:30I think the administration is clearly trying to intimidate Democrats in the same way that they're trying to intimidate the country.
02:35This whole shock and awe strategy, this flood the zone with outrageous behavior that they've tried to unleash on the American people during the first few months of the Trump administration is all designed to create the appearance of inevitability.
02:50But Donald Trump has learned an important lesson.
02:52The American people aren't interested in bending the knee to a wannabe king.
02:56It's the reason why Donald Trump actually is the most unpopular president at this point of a presidency in American history.
03:05The American people have rejected this approach, and we as congressional Democrats will continue to reject this approach.
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