Newsmax guest: “There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents Donald Trump from serving as President of the United States from a jail cell”
Published
Citation From the August 15, 2023, edition of Newsmax's Wake Up America
ROB FINNERTY (HOST): Thane, just a quick one here. It appears that the goal, at least right now, is to get a conviction and get Donald Trump behind bars, even if it's Election Day. What's wild is that, let's say Trump is the nominee. If he loses to Joe Biden or whomever else is the Democratic nominee in November 2024, he's staying in jail because there is no pardon in the state of Georgia. You have to serve at least five years before a pardon would be possible, meaning – let's say somebody else, Ron DeSantis or whomever on the Republican side is elected president, they wouldn't have the ability to pardon President Trump. Is that accurate?
THANE ROSENBAUM (GUEST): You're absolutely right. These are state crimes. Pardoning or even telling the Justice Department to back off doesn't matter here. This is not the Justice Department. This is the state of Georgia and a prosecutor in Georgia. The better question, Rob, to ask yourself is, can you redecorate a jail cell and make it look like the Oval Office?
FINNERT: Yeah.
ROSENBAUM: Because there is nothing in the Constitution that prevents Donald Trump from serving as President of the United States from a jail cell if that's the will of the American people. If they're prepared to vote for somebody that's under criminal indictment, as in convicted in Georgia and is sitting in a jail in Atlanta, there's nothing to stop him from serving as president from that jail cell.
FINNERTY: Yes, but what's changed this morning is now it is White House or bust or, obviously, door number two would be winning the case, and he's got a very good chance at that.