Lawmaker: 212 Democrats back discharge petition to block $1.8 billion 'slush fund' and self-pardon

A lawmaker said 212 Democrats in the House have signed a discharge petition to bring legislation to the floor aimed at shutting down what the speaker called an illegal, unconstitutional $1,800,000,000 political "slush fund." "212 Democrats in the House Caucus have all signed on to our discharge petition to bring to the floor the legislation we've got to shut down Donald Trump's illegal, unconstitutional $1,800,000,000 political slush fund," the lawmaker said.

The speaker said the measure would also bar government money from being used to pay "Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and other convicted felons from the January 6th insurrection." The lawmaker framed the bill as an effort to ensure that "no government money can be used for the purposes of paying off Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and other convicted felons from the January 6th insurrection." The speaker further urged action to prevent a self-pardon, saying, "we also need to shut down this self pardon that Donald Trump is dealing himself and his family and, his businesses not to be prosecuted for any kind of tax fraud or civil or criminal offenses that may have been committed by members of his family up until this point."

The speaker said the Democratic caucus is united and appealed to Republicans for support, calling for six members of the Republican conference to sign the petition. "We're waiting on our friends from the Republican party to stand up. We just need 6 of them to sign their names to this petition," the lawmaker said, urging those members to back what the speaker described as upholding the rule of law. The transcript does not record any formal motion, vote, or a named sponsor for the bill in this excerpt.