MSNBC’s Jen Psaki Asks Republican Ex-AG ‘Should Trump Go To Prison Despite Being A Former President?’
MSNBC host Jen Psaki asked former Bush-era Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a question that’s on a lot of minds: “Should Trump go to prison despite being a former president?”
After a fourth (or fifth, depending on how you count) indictment, the maximum sentences against ex-President Donald Trump from all of the charges he currently faces add up to a staggering 712 years and 6 months in prison. But many are wondering if Trump will actually go to prison if he’s convicted, while others relish the prospect.
In a preview clip from an interview that will air on Sunday’s edition of MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki, the host asked Gonzales for his take on the question, and Gonzales took a long walk to a conditional affirmative:
JEN PSAKI, MSNBC HOST: If Donald Trump is convicted and sentenced to serve time, should he go to prison despite being a former president? I know we’re getting ahead of where we are at this moment. But what is your view on that in general?
ALBERTO GONZALES, FORMER UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: You’re right, we’re getting way ahead of ourselves. I haven’t really thought about it. I think he should, if in fact, he’s convicted of the crimes charged by Jack Smith and Department of Justice. Yeah, I think he should serve time, quite frankly. Look, there are people that on January 6, went to the Capitol, maybe not at the clear direction of President Trump, but certainly, he did nothing to stop what happened that day. They’re serving time. And so if in fact Jack Smith is successfully prosecuting Donald Trump for the crimes that he’s charged, I think it would be fair that he go to prison, but we’re a long way from there.
Trump is under indictment on 34 felony counts in New York over Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his grand jury investigating the circumstances around hush money payments to Stormy Daniels; 37 counts stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into his retention of classified documents under the Espionage Act; a superseding indictment by Smith on three additional charges against Trump (one additional count of unlawful retention of National Defense Information and two new obstruction counts); Smith’s indictment against Trump for his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights; and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced a new indictment of Trump on 13 counts related to election crimes.
Watch above via MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki and Morning Joe.
