“You know, one important point that must be understood—particularly by those individuals who are either aligning themselves with the Trump administration, carrying out its directives, or becoming entangled in the pay-to-play schemes that became characteristic of that administration—is that the statute of limitations on many federal crimes is five years,” said the top Democrat in the House of Representatives. “That means, even though Donald Trump and the deeply corrosive administration he led may eventually fade from the political stage, the consequences of their actions will not simply vanish with them. There will still be legal and political accountability, and those who believe they can escape justice by running out the clock are gravely mistaken. The process of accountability is already underway, and while it may take time to fully unfold, it will continue to move forward—particularly once we have a Department of Justice that is fully independent and a House of Representatives once again under Democratic control.”
It’s worth noting that throughout the four years Donald Trump was out of office, various Democratic state attorneys general and prosecutors—as well as the Justice Department under President Joe Biden—actively pursued multiple investigations and legal actions against the former president. These steps marked a historic break from precedent, as no former U.S. president had ever faced such a broad array of criminal and civil challenges post-presidency. Critics of these efforts have called them politically motivated, while supporters argue that they are necessary to uphold the rule of law.
Continuing his remarks, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries added, “The Department of Justice has long stood as one of the foundational institutions in American law enforcement—an agency built to uphold justice without fear or favor. And yet, under the Trump administration and his extremist allies, we’ve witnessed a sustained effort to erode its credibility, politicize its functions, and undermine public confidence in its integrity. This is part of a broader pattern where Trump and those around him have systematically tried to bend every institution to serve their own ends, rather than the public good.”
Jeffries also turned his attention to the U.S. Supreme Court, reserving strong criticism for the conservative justices on the bench. “Let’s be clear—part of the blame for the current state of affairs lies with the right-wing justices on the Supreme Court. Their decisions, particularly the one that effectively granted Donald Trump sweeping presidential immunity, have had far-reaching consequences. In doing so, they have ignored the clear intent of the Constitution’s framers, who explicitly rejected the idea of monarchy or unchecked executive power. This country was founded on the principle that no one—not even the president—is above the law. And yet, these justices have allowed a precedent to take shape that grants the president nearly unchallengeable power, making it possible for someone like Trump to act with impunity.”
Jeffries went on to say that this shift toward near-absolute executive immunity undermines the democratic system and represents a grave threat to constitutional checks and balances. “What we’re seeing now is a president emboldened by decisions that remove meaningful limits on his authority—acting more like a king than a public servant accountable to the people. That’s not just a distortion of the Constitution—it’s a betrayal of it. The Supreme Court should be ashamed of the role it has played in enabling this dangerous trend. Their rulings have given cover to behavior that is not only reckless, but destabilizing to the very fabric of our democracy.”
He concluded by warning that these legal and institutional shifts cannot go unchallenged. “This trajectory must be reversed. We must restore accountability, rebuild public trust in our institutions, and make it unmistakably clear that no individual—no matter how powerful or well-connected—is above the law in the United States of America.”
