Hillary Clinton on Sunday said that it's hard to tell whether former President Donald Trump would be indicted for keeping classified White House documents at Mar-a-Lago.
CNN's State of the Union host Dana Bash asked Clinton, Trump's 2016 presidential Democratic opponent, whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) should take into account "the potential real world consequences of indicting a former president and a potential 2024 candidate."
"I think it's a really hard call," the former secretary of state said. "And I cannot predict what the Justice Department will do at the end of its investigation. But I do think the rule of law holding people accountable is central to our nation."
Clinton added that it's "not an easy call" to determine whether or not Trump should be charged because she doesn't "know all the facts."
"And unlike people who jump to conclusions, I don't want to do that," Clinton said.
Last week, the former president brought up Clinton's handling of classified information as his crowd of supporters chanted "lock her up" at a Pennsylvania rally.
Trump said during the rally that Clinton "set up a secret, illegal server to hide her family's pay-for-play schemes [and] crammed it full of classified information." He then accused her of deleting "30,000 emails."
Last month, the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, Trump's resort residence, and seized over 100 classified documents that reportedly contained sensitive information related to nuclear weapons and "highly classified documents."
The FBI carried out the search after the approval of Attorney General Merrick Garland at a time when law enforcement received a tip from an informant who knew the type of documents Trump held on to and where he kept them. Some experts said that Trump is suspected to have violated the Espionage Act, which could penalize him up to 10 years in prison, a fine, or both if convicted.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in regard to the documents, and said that any classified documents that he took from the White House last year had been declassified.
"...I really believe that at the end of the day, no one is above the law, and no one should be escaping accountability, if indeed, the facts and the evidence point to them having done something that anyone else in our country would be investigated for and maybe even charged," Clinton said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a federal judge responded to Trump's request to bring a special master who would look into the seized documents and determine whether any of the materials are protected by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege.
The ex-president repeatedly criticized Clinton for allegedly using a personal email account and server while she served as secretary of state. However, she was never charged.
"As secretary of state and as a private citizen, I have answered every question I've ever been asked. I've testified for 11 hours," she said on Sunday. "I have been involved in anything that was asked of me to try to answer any kind of issue. I think that's the way the system is supposed to work, even if you are not sure why you're being with the spotlight on you."
On Tuesday, Clinton laughed at a question she was asked during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon about the classified material that Trump kept at Mar-a-Lago.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for comment.
September 12, 2022 at 02:49AM
https://www.newsweek.com/clinton-says-charging-trump-really-hard-call-wont-jump-conclusions-1741869
Clinton Says Charging Trump a 'Really Hard Call,' Won't Jump to Conclusions - Newsweek
https://news.google.com/search?q=hard&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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