On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spoke to CNN's Dana Bash about the Trump administration's prosecution of Democratic politicians.
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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
00:10entered his congressional office on Wednesday without a warrant and handcuffed a member of his
00:15staff. This, of course, comes after the Trump Justice Department charged Democratic Congresswoman
00:22LaMonica MacGyver with obstructing ICE agents after an altercation at a facility in Newark,
00:28New Jersey. Now, I know you previously warned that the administration charging members of
00:32Congress was a, quote, red line. What are you doing now that the red line you talked about has
00:38apparently been crossed? Well, let me make clear that the House is a separate and co-equal branch
00:46of government to Congress. We don't work for Donald Trump. We don't work for the administration. We
00:50don't work for Elon Musk. We work for the American people. And we have a responsibility to serve as
00:55a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch. That's the constitutional blueprint that
01:01was given to us by the framers of the United States democracy that we have inherited over the last few
01:09centuries. And so we're going to continue to undertake our congressional responsibility,
01:14notwithstanding 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
01:24for Trump's reckless and extreme agenda. And the American people, I think, will ultimately reject
01:30that next year when we will take back control of the House of Representatives. In the meantime,
01:35in terms of how we will respond to what Trump and the administration has endeavored to do,
01:41we will make that decision in a time, place and manner of our choosing. But the response
01:48will be continuous and it will meet the moment that is required.
01:54What exactly does that mean? Have you not decided how to respond?
02:00We've publicly responded in a variety of different ways. We haven't let our foot off the gas pedal
02:06in terms of additional things that may take place with respect to our congressional oversight authority
02:12and capacity. We will respond in a time, place and manner of our choosing if this continues to happen.
02:22You 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
02:34trying to intimidate the country. This whole shock and awe strategy, this flood the zone with
02:39outrageous behavior that they've tried to unleash on the American people during the first few months
02:44of the Trump administration is all designed to create the appearance of inevitability.
02:50But Donald Trump has learned an important lesson. The American people aren't interested in bending
02:54the knee to a wannabe king. It's the reason why Donald Trump actually is the most unpopular
03:00president at this point of a presidency in American history. The American people have rejected
03:07this approach. And we as congressional Democrats will continue to reject this approach.