Trump on Hillary Clinton: A president under indictment would represent constitutional crisis
Former President Trump, who has now been indicted over his handling of classified records, said in 2016 that a president under an indictment would cause a constitutional crisis, statements first noted by a CNN KFILE review.
Trump made the comments about then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at a rally in Reno, Nev., Nov. 5, 2016, KFILE noted.
“We could very well have a sitting president under felony indictment and ultimately a criminal trial,” Trump said at the rally. “It would grind government to a halt.”
Trump’s remarks came just days after then-FBI Director James Comey announced the bureau was relaunching an investigation into Clinton’s private email server and her handling of classified information.
Comey's decision has been heavily criticized by Clinton and other Democrats, who argue it played a huge role in her loss in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump is now facing federal charges after government officials discovered hundreds of documents, including some that were classified, at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
Trump is now seen as the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, even as he is subject to a slew of legal battles in courtrooms from Florida to New York to Washington, D.C.
The former president pleaded not guilty to 37 federal counts of mishandling classified documents last month in connection to the documents found at his private Mar-a-Lago residence last summer. Trump has maintained that the documents he took were declassified and that he had the right to take them.
Trump faces other legal issues as well.
He could face a second federal indictment over efforts to interfere with the transfer of power after the 2020 election leading up to and including the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol. Charges in that case have not yet been announced but may increase Trump’s legal woes.
The remarks in Nevada weren't the only time that Trump suggested there could be a crisis if a president were under an indictment.
He also made similar remarks at a rally Nov. 3, 2016, in Concord, N.C., CNN’s KFILE found.
“If she were to win, it would create an unprecedented Constitutional crisis that would cripple the operations of our government,” he said. “She is likely to be under investigation for many years, and also it will probably end up — in my opinion — in a criminal trial. I mean, you take a look. Who knows? But it certainly looks that way.”