Arthur Aidala, a criminal defense attorney, reportedly sparked a debate on Thursday night by reminding former Republican Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois that Democrats pursued President-elect Donald Trump with numerous legal investigations.
Former Republican Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming was bestowed the Presidential Citizens’ Medal by President Joe Biden in recognition of her participation in a House committee that investigated the riot at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
Walsh urged Biden to pardon Cheney in order to “protect” her from the impending Trump administration, which prompted Aidala to highlight the way in which the Biden administration targeted Trump.
“Joe Biden should try to pardon as many people as possible to protect from a guy who said, ‘I want to be an authoritarian,’” Walsh suggested, prompting respond from Aidala which stirred the pot, “I know, but, congressman, his — the Democratic administration just went after Trump and his whole family. His whole family.”
“Hang on. What do you mean, the Democratic administration? What are you talking about?” host Abby Phillips then asked.
“Last I looked, Joe Biden is a Democrat. Last I looked, the attorney general, Merrick Garland, is a Democrat. They hired a special prosecutor who went after him in several jurisdictions. The Democratic Manhattan D.A. went after him. The Democratic attorney general of the state of New York went after him.” Aidala responded.
Trump encountered numerous legal challenges, such as an attempt to exclude him from the presidential election ballot and a criminal prosecution in Manhattan on May 30, during which a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Special counsel Jack Smith also indicted Trump on offenses related to classified documents and his efforts to contest the 2020 presidential election.
In 2020, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis also obtained an indictment on state charges in connection with Trump’s endeavors to contest the results in Georgia.
“The Democrats went after Donald Trump and his entire family,” Aidala said.
“It was not President Joe Biden saying, ‘I’m going to put Donald Trump…’” former Hillary Clinton campaign aide Amanda Litman said in response.
“It’s his administration. It’s his administration. And it’s his entire family. Ivanka had to testify. Donald Jr. had to testify. Eric had to testify.” Aidala retorted.
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