MSNBC’s Claire McCaskill Says Trump Indictment Not a ‘Night for Celebration’
MSNBC analyst and former Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill said news of former President Donald Trump’s indictment on Thursday was not cause for celebration, before suggesting that Trump could receive the Republican nomination while in “an ankle bracelet.”
“First of all, I don’t think it’s a night for celebration for our country,” McCaskill told MSNBC host Alex Wagner. “I think it’s time to pause and really take in what has just occurred and what is going to be occurring over the coming months.”
McCaskill argued that the Department of Justice’s decision to try the case in federal court in South Florida shows prosecutors “want to be very careful about bringing it somewhere where the conviction, if they get one, would not be overturned on appeal.”
“It also shows strength on their part, Alex, that they are willing to take this evidence to any courtroom in the country, including Trump’s backyard,” she noted. “I think they could’ve manipulated this, in terms of venue, to get enough of the charges in Washington. They could’ve brought it there, but they decided, ‘Let’s just let the facts be what the facts are.'”
McCaskill also said it was interesting “how many Republicans are coming out and saying things tonight without knowing what the evidence is,” and said:
My sense is that somebody has flipped here. My sense is there’s going to be a charge, tampering with witnesses, that maybe some of these witnesses have been threatened, that they should not cooperate. And I just think it’s very dangerous for anybody in public office to be saying somebody is innocent and that this is just a sham, and a political sham, before they know the evidence that would be presented, and none of them know the evidence.
“Now are they going to move the 30% of the Republican Party that’s going be with Trump?” she asked. “No, and maybe Trump gets the nomination with an ankle bracelet. That remains to be seen. Wouldn’t surprise me if he gets the nomination with an ankle bracelet.”
According to the New York Times, which cited anonymous sources, Trump has been charged with seven counts, including “willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and making false statements.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
