House Oversight Committee ranking member and constitutional law professor Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) destroyed the idea that Trump should have his trial delayed until after the election.
Raskin said on MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki:
I don’t think there should be any delay in existing prosecution. Otherwise any criminal defendant in the country would declare for president, or senate, or house, or mayor and say you cannot prosecute me anyway anymore if to prosecute me the year after the election.
Think of it this way. If someone is running for office and then is implicated in a murder or a rape, or an armed robbery would we say, no? We’re going to hold that until after the election until in the normal case it would be happening before, he should be treated exactly the same with anyone else would be treated in the same situation. There been hundreds of prosecutions of people on the basis of crimes that took place on January 6th. Why should he be special?
Video of Raskin:
Jamie Raskin on Trump seeking to delay his trial until after the election, “There been hundreds of prosecutions of people on the basis of crimes that took place on January 6th. Why should he be special?” pic.twitter.com/mVFcyKeRv6
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 16, 2023
Rep. Raskin was spot on. Why should Donald Trump get special treatment? If he is given special treatment, does that mean that anybody can use a political campaign to delay a criminal prosecution? The idea is nonsensical and contradictory to the nation’s democratic process and notions about justice.
The only reason that Trump launched his latest presidential campaign when he did is that he is attempting to avoid criminal prosecution.
If judges allow defendants to avoid prtion by abusing the electoral process, it will do serious damage to the country.
Donald Trump is not special. When his term as president ended, he became a private-citizen, who is enttiled to the same treatment under the law as everyone else, which is why he should be given no special consideration until after the 2024 election.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
This story originally appeared on Politicususa
