Raskin: Qatar jet gift to Trump 'has caught the public eye'

Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, doubled down on his criticism of President Trump accepting Qatar's gift of a luxury jet, saying it's "caught the public eye."

He's urged Trump in recent days to allow members of Congress to debate on the Boeing 747-8 before the administration accepts the gift.

"Look, we’ve got to use this as the teaching seminar for all of America about how utterly unconstitutional this arrangement is. And for some reason now, this flying grift or Con Air Force One, as some people are calling it, has caught the public eye and the public imagination," Raskin said Tuesday during an appearance on MSNBC. "And it’s really broken through."

“People understand that the president of the United States, without the consent of Congress, cannot be collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in gifts from foreign states or governments. The Framers drew a very bright line on that," he told “The Last Word" host Lawrence O'Donnell.

Raskin added, "The exception is if you go to Congress’ and you ask for Congress’ consent to do it."

Democrats in Congress have voiced plans to turn up the pressure on Trump and his administration over the luxury plane, arguing the Qatari royal family's present is a clear example of corruption. 

“It feeds a corruption narrative about this administration, and it feeds a second narrative: Trump gets a gift of a plane at the same time he’s telling little kids they have to carve their Christmas gifts down,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told The Hill. “The anger is very, very palpable.” 

The jet is valued at $400 million and would temporarily replace Air Force One, which has been in service for more than three decades. It would initially be received by the Defense Department, according to the president.

Some of Trump’s allies in the Senate have also raised concerns about the potential gift. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) said the potential delivery of the jet poses “significant espionage and surveillance problems.” 

“I’m not a fan of Qatar. I think they have a really disturbing pattern of funding theocratic lunatics who want to murder us, funding Hamas and Hezbollah. And that’s a real problem,” Cruz said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box."

“I also think the plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems,” he continued. “We’ll see how this issue plays out, but I certainly have concerns.”

Raskin said Tuesday night that lawmakers need to tell Trump in “unison” that he must bring the “proposed gift, to Congress, and we will debate it there, and you can make your case on why you think it doesn't compromise national security, why it doesn't undermine public integrity.” 

“We'll have witnesses on different sides, and Congress will decide it," the Maryland Democrat added. "And that's what we've got to do with all of his crypto investments and his meme coin and so on because these are just open, gaping gulfs within which they're funneling money from foreign governments directly to the Trump family and to Donald Trump himself."

The comments come as Trump continues his Middle East trip on Wednesday, making a stop in Qatar.