Ex-prosecutor: 'Fair to say' that 'no one contemplated' the constitutional crises Trump triggered

21 July 2023

Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti explained to NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles on Friday's edition of Meet the Press Now that there would be an unparalleled constitutional crisis if ex-President Donald Trump is reelected in 2024 and has to stand trial while in office.

"If we're in a situation here where Donald Trump wins the presidential election and he hasn't even gone on trial yet — which you predict could happen, that the trial would happen after the election — what are the legal ramifications there, of prosecuting a sitting president or president-elect?" Nobles asked.

"It is absolutely unprecedented," Mariotii responded, "And I think it's fair to say that it is something that the people who wrote our Constitution, the men, I should say — since women were excluded at the time — who wrote our Constitution, didn't contemplate, and no one contemplated the, for example, the State of New York or one of its constituent parts, wanting to imprison the president of the United States or the judiciary trying to impose a sentence on the Executive Branch. I don't think any of this was ever contemplated."

Mariotti continued, "You know, people use the term constitutional crisis all the time — but that truly would be one, and I don't, and I don't think we have a good answer, and anyone can provide a good answer to that question."

Nobles stressed that "this is not fantasy, this is a potential reality, that we are not that far away from having to deal with if all the things play out as they might."

Watch below via Meet the Press or at this link.

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