A House Judiciary Committee member accused President Donald Trump on Tuesday of "shaking down" his own government and called on GOP lawmakers to stand up.
Trump reportedly demanded that his Justice Department pay him $230 million in taxpayer dollars as compensation for past actions that he disagreed with. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) shared his reaction to Trump's latest move with CNN anchor Kasie Hunt.
"We are combining the weaponization of the Department of Justice by him putting his political lackeys there — with his grift and corruption — to make money off of the presidency. It is completely absurd. Donald Trump would have been convicted at trial in both of those cases. The only reason they went away is because he won the election, and a president cannot be tried," Goldman said.
"And the notion that there was anything wrong with those investigations is preposterous," he added. "But even more so, to then demand of his own Justice Department and his own appointees that they pay him $200 million — for who knows what — is a shakedown... of his own government, where he is literally just digging into the coffers of his own government and saying, let's just put $230 million into my own pocket. When are the Republicans going to stand up for anything?"
