Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) during an interview over the weekend called for Congress to defund jurisdictions across the country that do not ...
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) during an interview over the weekend called for Congress to defund jurisdictions across the country that do not protect Americans’ rights.
Donalds made the remarks while speaking to Peter Alexander on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” about Trump asking House Speaker Mike Johnson to overturn his conviction in Manhattan.
“One very important thing: It’s not about Speaker Johnson,” Donalds said. “He doesn’t have that power to overturn anything. But what it’s about is that Congress does fund a lot of jurisdictions around the country, and if there is a jurisdiction that takes federal money and it does not also protect the constitutional rights of all Americans, whether that’s President Trump or any other American, they shouldn’t receive federal funds.”
“I think that’s something that every American would agree with, and you do have to understand President Trump’s frustration,” he continued. “What happened in lower Manhattan was a violation of his constitutional rights. They didn’t even identify the ‘crime’ until the very end of the process, which is a violation of constitutional norms. Judge Merchan did not do that. And so yes, he’s frustrated. Any American would be frustrated.”
Donalds said that the entire case was unconstitutional because “in the original indictment, they never identified an underlying crime.”
“Under our Bill of Rights, under our rule of law, a defendant is entitled to know what he’s being charged with,” he said. “Donald Trump was never afforded that ability, so how can his legal team prepare a defense if you don’t even know what the actual crime is? That is why what happened in lower Manhattan was so terrible. And the only time the prosecution could even assert a crime was at the end of the trace – of the case in closing arguments. You’re not allowed to do that.”
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