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Dick Durbin Accuses Trump Of Using National Guard Deployments To Distract From 'Epstein Cover-Up'
Forbes Breaking News
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2 months ago
During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) accused President Trump of deploying the National Guard to Democratic cities to distract public attention from the Epstein Files.
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00:00
Mr. President, back home in Illinois, there is one item of news when it comes to Washington, D.C.
00:06
When or if Donald Trump is going to send in the troops.
00:10
In June, President Trump deployed the military against American citizens
00:15
when he sent National Guard troops and 700 active-duty Marines in Los Angeles
00:21
in an attempt to crush protests against his administration's cruel immigration raids.
00:27
Last month, the President took the unwarranted step of federalizing Washington, D.C. police force
00:35
and sending thousands of National Guardsmen to patrol our nation's capital.
00:39
For months now, President Trump has been looking for any excuse to send National Guard troops
00:45
and active-duty forces into American communities.
00:49
And over the past few weeks, he has boasted a quote,
00:52
Chicago will be next.
00:53
Let me be clear.
00:55
This would be yet another dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional abuse of power
01:00
by President Donald Trump.
01:03
The President claims his actions are meant to drive down crime and restore order,
01:07
but all they have done is create a political spectacle, political theater.
01:12
He ignores the reality that violent crime is down in the District of Columbia and in Chicago,
01:17
and he ignores the fact that under our Constitution,
01:20
the power to maintain law and order belongs to the states.
01:24
That doesn't matter to Donald Trump.
01:27
The only thing that matters to him are the optics,
01:29
continuing to push the limits of our Constitution and the rule of law as he abuses his office.
01:35
Using the military to occupy an American city in the absence of an emergency
01:40
politicizes the institution, erodes civilian control of the armed forces,
01:46
and places unnecessary burdens on service members, families, and employers.
01:51
There are also troubling reports that federal law enforcement officers
01:56
could operate out of the Naval Station Great Lakes,
01:58
where the Navy trains thousands of new recruits a year.
02:02
We are so proud of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station.
02:05
Every single member of the United States Navy on the enlisted side
02:10
goes through basic training in our state in the Great Lakes Naval Training Station.
02:15
My brother, who was a volunteer serving in the Navy in the Korean War,
02:20
went through that training in his day.
02:23
It is a magnificent facility, and over the time that I've served in Congress,
02:28
in the House, and the Senate, it's been my honor
02:30
to make sure that it's the very best training center in the world.
02:34
Supporting law enforcement is not the core mission of the United States Navy
02:38
or the National Guard, and it distracts our troops from preparing to respond
02:44
to real threats from our adversaries around the world.
02:48
We were just notified recently that there have been secret plans underway
02:52
for a long period of time.
02:55
The Pentagon has been developing plans for military deployment for weeks.
02:58
The plans reportedly include several options,
03:02
including mobilizing thousands of National Guard troops this month
03:07
to restore law and order, so to speak,
03:10
in areas where they're cracking down on crime, homelessness,
03:14
and undocumented immigration.
03:16
But in most instances, legal and constitutional instances,
03:21
the use of federalized troops or the use of federal troops
03:24
requires the approval and consent of the governor of the state.
03:29
That is not the case, certainly, in Illinois.
03:32
It also takes a financial toll on our readiness.
03:35
We're going to start considering the National Defense Authorization Act
03:39
this evening here in the United States Senate.
03:42
It's an important bill, one of the most important,
03:45
and it has a history of always being passed every single year.
03:49
I hope we can maintain that kind of commitment.
03:53
But that bill is passed and popular and bipartisan
03:56
because it does something that is critical.
04:00
It authorizes the funding for the troops that defend our nation.
04:05
We work long and hard on it.
04:06
I'm not a member of that committee,
04:07
but I know they spend hours in debate
04:09
on each and every provision of the bill,
04:11
then come to the floor
04:12
and are subject many times to amendments on the floor.
04:16
It takes a week or sometimes two or more
04:18
to get it done, but it's that important.
04:21
Why do we spend so much time?
04:22
To make sure that our military has the money
04:24
that they need to keep America safe,
04:27
our first responsibility.
04:30
And now we have this prospect
04:31
that even if we pass this bill,
04:34
that some other agencies of this government,
04:37
for some other political reason,
04:38
in this case, gross deportation, massive deportation,
04:43
are going to be using the Department of Defense funds.
04:46
I offer an amendment in the Appropriations Committee
04:49
where I serve that said,
04:51
if any other agency of government
04:53
takes money away from the Department of Defense
04:55
for another purpose, it has to be reimbursed.
04:58
If we are going to stand by our men and women in uniform
05:01
and make sure that they're adequately financed,
05:03
we cannot allow these raids
05:05
that are being considered by the Trump administration.
05:07
For example, the cost of Donald Trump's deployment
05:12
of troops to Los Angeles
05:14
was estimated at $134 million.
05:18
And some experts calculate the mission
05:20
in District of Columbia
05:21
cost the Department of Defense and taxpayers
05:24
a million dollars a day.
05:27
A million dollars a day.
05:29
While the National Guard is meant to serve
05:30
American communities in true emergencies,
05:32
like pandemics and natural disasters,
05:35
what is it doing in D.C.
05:37
at the President's request?
05:39
Patrolling neighborhoods for political theater,
05:42
picking up trash, and spreading mulch.
05:45
Give me a break.
05:46
These men and women are being trained
05:47
to defend our country.
05:49
They're being used by this President
05:50
for political purposes in the District of Columbia.
05:54
In Chicago, crime rates may be unacceptably high,
05:57
and I don't doubt that in some categories,
05:58
but they have been on a steady decline for years,
06:02
and we are already pursuing
06:03
successful community-based strategies
06:05
to deter crime.
06:07
We're reaching out to the most vulnerable members
06:09
of our communities,
06:10
directly and personally,
06:12
working with trusted and trained leaders
06:14
who understand the impact
06:15
that trauma can have on communities.
06:18
We can work together,
06:19
but it doesn't mean that Donald Trump
06:21
shoves it down our throats.
06:23
We want to cooperate with him.
06:24
We have programs that he failed to fund
06:26
in this budget cycle
06:28
that we believe are critical
06:29
for the maintainance
06:31
of the diminishment
06:33
of these criminal experiences.
06:36
This is being accomplished
06:37
through community-based violence intervention
06:39
and prevention,
06:40
which represents a historic federal investment
06:43
in programs designed to help prevent
06:45
and reduce violent crime.
06:48
But these programs have been cut
06:50
by the Trump administration.
06:52
The initiative supports
06:53
evidence-based violence intervention
06:56
and prevention based on partnerships.
06:59
It combats crime by collecting data,
07:02
identifying trends,
07:03
developing strategies,
07:05
and sharing these practices.
07:06
Ask professional law enforcement,
07:08
and they will tell you
07:09
in virtually every conversation
07:11
on the subject.
07:12
You can't arrest your way
07:13
out of a crime wave.
07:15
You've got to analyze
07:16
the basic causes of crime
07:18
and what to do about it.
07:19
Of course, dangerous people
07:20
should be arrested
07:21
and should pay the price
07:22
for their wrongdoing.
07:24
But a strategy
07:25
that reduces violent crime
07:26
over any long period of time
07:28
takes more than that.
07:30
Replacing these efforts
07:31
with troops
07:32
not trained for urban policing,
07:35
risk alienating residents,
07:37
destabilizing neighborhoods,
07:38
and harming
07:39
the National Guard's reputation.
07:41
And I tell you,
07:42
over the years,
07:42
I've come to be a big fan
07:43
of the National Guard.
07:45
They're there when we need them.
07:46
We shouldn't overuse them.
07:48
We shouldn't abuse them.
07:49
We shouldn't put them in jobs
07:50
they're not trained for.
07:51
That's exactly what
07:52
the Trump administration
07:53
is doing in the District of Columbia
07:55
and threatening to do in Illinois.
07:58
And incidentally,
07:59
there's one common fact
08:00
that belies any objectivity
08:03
in this effort.
08:05
You would think
08:05
if the president
08:06
were setting out
08:07
to eliminate crime
08:08
across America,
08:09
he could find many examples
08:10
in red states
08:11
and blue states,
08:12
states that supported him
08:13
and states that didn't.
08:15
All he's found
08:16
are the areas
08:17
that were voting
08:18
for Joseph Biden
08:21
in the election in 2020.
08:23
And those states
08:24
are the state of California,
08:26
the state of Illinois,
08:28
District of Columbia.
08:30
Now he's threatening
08:30
to move into Maryland.
08:32
So if he's going after crime,
08:34
why is he ignoring
08:35
the states of Louisiana,
08:38
Mississippi,
08:40
Arkansas,
08:40
Tennessee,
08:42
or Texas?
08:43
Why?
08:44
Because they voted
08:45
for him for president.
08:47
He doesn't see crime
08:47
in those states.
08:48
And there's just as much
08:49
if not more
08:50
as there is
08:50
in the state of Illinois.
08:52
And yet he focuses
08:53
attention
08:54
only on blue states.
08:57
All of these states
08:57
that I mentioned
08:58
have violent crime rates,
09:00
high violent crime rates.
09:01
But President Trump
09:02
doesn't target them
09:03
because they're led
09:04
by Republican officials.
09:06
That's it.
09:07
It's a political decision.
09:09
Trump's power grab
09:10
sets a precedent
09:10
that any president
09:11
could invoke
09:12
to deploy troops
09:15
anywhere
09:16
without an actual emergency.
09:18
He was called to task
09:19
by a judge in California
09:21
on that just this week.
09:22
And I'm sure
09:23
that would be contested.
09:25
He's reinforcing
09:26
a pattern of targeting
09:27
large cities
09:28
with significant
09:29
black and Latino populations,
09:31
undermining trust
09:32
between law enforcement
09:33
and the community.
09:34
The founders
09:35
of this nation
09:35
understood
09:36
that an unchecked power
09:37
to turn the military
09:38
on American people
09:40
themselves
09:41
poses a grave threat
09:42
to democracy
09:43
and individual liberty.
09:44
Trump's decision
09:45
to deploy the military
09:46
in American cities
09:48
is more fitting
09:49
for an authoritarian regime
09:51
than the democracy
09:52
that our nation's
09:53
founding fathers fought for.
09:55
These tactics
09:55
are all smoke and mirrors
09:57
to distract
09:57
from the real issues
09:58
facing us.
10:00
Trump is hoping
10:00
the American people
10:01
will forget about
10:02
his so-called
10:02
big, beautiful budget
10:04
that rips away
10:05
health care
10:06
and food aid
10:07
from millions
10:08
across America
10:09
all to give tax breaks
10:10
to the wealthiest.
10:12
Or forget
10:12
how his reckless
10:13
tariff policies
10:14
are increasing
10:15
the cost
10:16
on everyday goods
10:17
and essentials
10:17
that working people
10:19
rely on.
10:19
Or forget about
10:20
the Epstein cover-up
10:21
being orchestrated
10:22
by this White House.
10:24
Well, America
10:24
won't forget
10:25
and will continue
10:26
to hold Donald Trump's
10:27
feet to the fire
10:28
where it counts.
10:29
As a ranking member
10:30
of Senate Judiciary
10:31
and the senator
10:32
from the state
10:33
of Illinois,
10:33
I will not sit
10:35
idly by while
10:36
this president
10:36
tramples over
10:37
the Constitution.
10:38
I will use
10:39
every tool
10:39
at my disposal
10:40
to protect
10:41
our constitutional
10:42
system of checks
10:43
and balances
10:44
and individual
10:45
liberties that
10:46
define us as
10:47
Americans,
10:48
from Los Angeles
10:49
to Chicago
10:49
to the District
10:50
of Columbia
10:51
and everywhere
10:52
in between.
10:53
We will continue
10:54
to put pressure
10:55
on this administration
10:56
to explain
10:57
to the American
10:58
people why we
10:59
would waste
10:59
millions of dollars
11:00
appropriated for
11:01
the defense
11:02
of this country
11:02
on a political
11:03
stunt by this
11:04
president that
11:05
applies only to
11:06
blue states
11:07
that went for
11:07
Joe Biden
11:08
in the 2020 election.
11:10
The bottom line
11:10
is the American
11:11
people want to be
11:12
safe in their homes
11:12
and their neighborhoods
11:13
and safe as a nation.
11:15
This strategy
11:16
by Donald Trump
11:16
is not going to
11:17
achieve that goal.
11:18
Mr. President,
11:19
I yield the floor.
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