(DCNF)—Criminal defense attorney Arthur Aidala ignited a debate Thursday night when he reminded former Republican Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois that Democrats pursued President-elect Donald Trump with multiple legal probes.
President Joe Biden awarded former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming the Presidential Citizens’ Medal for her role in a House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol building. Walsh urged Biden to pardon Cheney in order to “protect” her from the incoming Trump administration, prompting Aidala to point out how 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 said, prompting Aidala to respond, “I know, but, congressman, his — the Democratic administration just went after Trump and his whole family. His whole family.”
“Wait, wait,” Walsh said, with CNN host Abby Phillip asking, “Hang on. What do you mean, the Democratic administration? What are you talking about?”
When panelist Cari Champion asked who had “gone after” Trump, the panel laughed.
“Last I looked, Joe Biden is a Democrat. Last I looked, the attorney general, Merrick Garland, is a Democrat,” Aidala responded. “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.”
Trump faced multiple legal battles, including efforts to throw him off the ballot for the presidential election, a criminal trial in Manhattan during which a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on May 30.
Trump was also indicted by special counsel Jack Smith on charges based on allegations involving classified documents and efforts to contest the 2020 presidential election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis also secured an indictment on state charges over Trump’s efforts to contest the results in Georgia in 2020.
“The Democrats went after Donald Trump and his entire family,” Aidala said, prompting former Hillary Clinton campaign aide Amanda Litman to say, “It was not President Joe Biden saying, ‘I’m going to put Donald Trump…’”
“It’s his administration. It’s his administration. And it’s his entire family,” Aidala responded. “Ivanka had to testify. Donald Jr. had to testify. Eric had to testify.”
