GOP Strategist Says Garland Has Cornered Himself on Prosecuting Trump: ‘I Don’t Know How You Can’t’

CNN contributor and Republican strategist Scott Jennings said this morning on New Day that he doesn’t see how Attorney General Merrick Garland can’t prosecute former president Donald Trump following the FBI’s search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

The new comments come a day after Jennings caught attention over the weekend for an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union when he suggested that this investigation will end with either Trump’s indictment or Garland’s resignation.

“I will say on this criminal piece, the Department of Justice and Merrick Garland [have] put themselves out there now,” Jennings said. “They’ve got a job to do. They’ve told a federal judge Donald Trump may have committed crimes, multiple crimes. They went to his house. A lot of Republicans feel like the threshold has been crossed here.”

“You can’t just in several months say, ‘never mind,'” Jennings continued. “Because that, I mean, we’re 90 days before an election, this guy is going to run for president. To come back later in a few months and say, ‘well, it wasn’t any big deal,’ is going to really seem weird to a lot of Republicans.”

Jennings’ comments, along with those made by fellow panelist Natasha Alford, received some pushback from CNN political analyst John Avlon.

“I respectfully couldn’t disagree with you both more,” Avlon said. “Here’s why. Look, if indeed the prosecution went forward here, most Republicans would say, ‘How dare you prosecute an ex-president?’ The issue is of course twofold. One, national security. Two, enforcement of the laws. The question is why Donald Trump and his lawyers would hand over certain documents, sign another document saying they handed over everything but held onto these documents including top secret information.”

“Now, if the goal is to protect national security, you want to get those things back in a secure place,” Avlon continued. “Do you prosecute an ex-president for Presidential Records Act violations and other national concerns? Possibly, but probably only if it hits a really high threshold… I don’t know that that should be prosecuted. I’m on team ‘enforce the law’ here. I think my problem with too many arguments I’ve heard in the last several days is it defaults to ‘let’s not enforce the law when it involves an ex-president.'” 

Jennings rebutted Avlon’s remarks by acknowledging that Trump is not being investigated on matters related to the Presidential Records Act and was later pressed by Avlon on whether or not Trump should be prosecuted for his actions.

“If he violated those laws, should he be prosecuted to your judgement?” Avlon asked.

“I think if he violated the law and he put the national security of the United States at risk, and you’re Merrick Garland and you’ve already told a judge you think he broke the law … I don’t know how you can’t because otherwise it’s going to seem like a political tactic,” Jennings said.

Watch above via CNN.

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