Democrat leader criticizes GOP for supporting Trump despite federal indictment.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) didn’t hold back in his criticism of Republican colleagues who continue to defend former President Donald Trump despite his indictment for allegedly mishandling classified documents and obstructing federal officials seeking control of those documents.

“The house Republican conference is in shambles,” Aguilar began at a Tuesday press conference. “They’ve barely gained control of the floor, and we head into a week and they jump head first into defending the corrupt leader of their party.”

Trump appeared in a Miami federal court on Tuesday for an arraignment on a 37-count federal indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith. The indictment includes 31 counts of “willful retention of national defense information,” as well as other counts of withholding a document or record, “corruptly” concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, conspiring to obstruct justice, scheming to conceal materials, and making false statements. The indictment also alleges Trump showed classified documents to other people on two separate occasions in 2021.

Despite the serious nature of the criminal allegations, several Republican lawmakers have referred to the indictment as the result of a “witch hunt.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has called news of the indictment “a dark day for the United States of America” and a “brazen weaponization of power.”

“The allegations are incredibly troubling, and the fact that House Republicans continue to try to come to his rescue just blows our mind, quite honestly,” Aguilar said. “And it stems from the fact that this is the leader of their party. They—lock, stock, and barrel—will follow what the former president says.”

Defending Biden

While Aguilar knocked Republicans supporting Trump and emphasized the serious nature of the criminal allegations during his Tuesday press conference, the prominent Democratic lawmaker also dismissed allegations of bribery against President Joe Biden.