A dozen House Republicans plan to dine with Trump in Bedminster on Tuesday, a day after the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago
- A dozen conservative House Republicans are getting together with Donald Trump tonight.
- The dinner meeting is happening a day after the FBI raided Trump's Florida estate.
Embattled former President Donald Trump is hosting a dozen of the most conservative House Republicans at his New Jersey golf club Tuesday night for a dinner meeting that's sure to touch on the recent FBI raid of Trump's home in Florida.
Republican Study Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Banks is leading the pilgrimage to Trump's Bedminster hideaway, according to Punchbowl News reporting that's since been confirmed by CBS News as "a solidarity moment for DJT with House's right flank."
Banks' staff did not reply to requests for comment about the purpose of the pending visit. A spokeswoman for House Republican Whip and RSC member Steve Scalise told Insider that the Louisiana Republican would not be attending.
RSC member Randy Weber of Texas posted a photo of the group dinner, showing Banks seated next to Trump as the guests awaited a four-course meal of seared scallops with tartar sauce, Caesar salad, a surf-and-turf pairing of sirloin steak and crab cakes, and chocolate chip cookies and ice cream for dessert.
"With our great President!," Weber gushed online, adding, "The FBI Hierarchy & DOJ & the White House should be ashamed!
Media reports say the meeting was on the books before federal agents executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago to track down missing government records sought by the National Archives. Trump decried the investigative sweep as "prosecutorial misconduct" by Attorney General Merrick Garland and a full-on attack by "Radical Left Democrats" attempting to block him from running again in 2024.
Meanwhile, House GOP leaders have tasked Banks with producing an alternative take to the ongoing investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack at the US Capitol.
Banks and Trump-aligned House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said months ago that the report would be released "soon," but haven't responded to repeated requests for updates about the counterpoint to the January 6 select committee's ongoing probe.
House Republicans need to flip just a handful of seats this fall to reclaim control of the chamber.