Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is hosting a “field hearing” at the Capitol on Tuesday that will provide some of Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters in the House the opportunity to defend the former president just ahead of his court date in Miami.
Trump will appear in federal court at 3 p.m. on Tuesday after being indicted last week on 37 counts stemming from his handling of classified documents after he left office. The former president is charged with “willful retention” of those documents as well as obstruction of justice and making false statements.
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The hearing, to be attended by Gaetz and a handful of his conservative colleagues, is predominantly focused on Jan. 6 defendants but will include public statements on the indictment from each of the lawmakers in attendance.
It will be held at 1:30 p.m. and feature testimony from conservative activists as well as the family members of two defendants, one of whom died by suicide while awaiting sentencing.
Tuesday will be the second time Trump has been arraigned in three months, coming on the heels of a separate indictment in Manhattan accusing the former president of falsifying business records.
Republicans have denounced both investigations as politically motivated and have pledged to investigate them in the House. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is already setting his sights on special counsel Jack Smith and the Justice Department.
A handful of hard-liners will attend the field hearing, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Troy Nehls (R-TX), and Ralph Norman (R-SC), but support for the former president extends all the way up to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
Following the indictment, the Californian vowed House Republicans would “hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable” and denounced the optics of a sitting president prosecuting the man expected to be his Republican rival in 2024.
President Joe Biden is embroiled in a documents scandal of his own after boxes of files from his time as vice president and a senator were found at both his home and office. A separate special counsel, Robert Hur, has been appointed to probe the president’s handling of records.
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His defenders have argued the cases are fundamentally different because of the lengths Trump allegedly went to conceal the documents in his possession, efforts that prosecutors say rise to the level of obstruction.
Trump flew to Miami on Monday ahead of the arraignment but is expected to return to his home in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Tuesday to deliver a speech on the indictment at 8:15 p.m.
He is the first former president to face federal charges.
