No more 'special favors' for Trump — 'the full range of punishment has to be on the table': ex-prosecutor

As former President Donald Trump continues to face two criminal cases, the MAGA hopeful also faces potential time behind bars.

During Monday's episode of MSNBC's The Beat with Ari Melber, former prosecutor Joyce Vance explained why jail time might be the best option for the ex-president.

"You mentioned the speculation, discussion around incarceration," Melber said. "I'm curious, your views, because you've dealt with this. There are certain dynamics that can make it more complicated, for example, people who are connected to gangs or mafia and how you deal with that inside a prison population. Mental health, a whole separate issue, where you deal with individuals who have other problems, but they didn't need the tests to be put in a different facility. They may have certain challenges, but they are in a traditional maximum security facility. Another issue sometimes is people who have internal threats against them, and of course, any federalprison is supposed to take that seriously — retribution, etc. But it doesn't mean that they only go to home confinement just because there are extra measures taken."

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Melber continued, "I'm curious if you can walk us through that, because I think the issue, issues around a potential former official going in like this are real — I don't think they're made up. But educate us or remind us how you mitigate that because I don't mean it just on Donald Trump — [former Governor Rod] Blagojevich was a very prominent official in Illinois and then he served in prison. Another person who is presumed innocent, Senator [Bob] Menendez (D-NJ), who happens to be a Democrat, but if convicted, he would be a former senator, maybe it's more complicated, but I won't believe he would be immune to potential incarceration either."

Vance replied, "I'm really glad you asked this question because one of my jobs during the [ex-President Barack] Obama administration was to work closely with the general counsel of the bureau of prisons and to work with the director. And the Bureau of Prisons is a very nimble entity. They deal with a lot of people with special circumstances, whether it's internal risks that require separation orders or other special needs. The Bureau of Prisons have units called shoes, special housing units, where they accommodate prisoners with all sorts of different needs. And there's the super max facility in Colorado where high-risk prisoners are housed."

She continued, "There's a lot of different ways that a former president could be accommodated and just as you pointed out, former Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois was incarcerated in federal prison. You know, the goal of the system is to do justice, not to do special favors. And Donald Trump has been the beneficiary of far too many special favors. It's time for him to see justice. And that may well include incarceration if he doesn't have the good sense to cut some sort of a beneficial plea deal. Look, I know a lot of people would be against that, Ari, but a plea deal that would determine Trump's guilt and require him to stand up in open court and acknowledge that he's guilty would be very meaningful. And in that sort of a situation, it might be worth considering home confinement instead of custody. But until Donald Trump does that, the full range of punishment has to be on the table."

Watch the video below or at this link.

No more 'special favors' for Trump — 'it’s time for him to see justice': former prosecutoryoutu.be

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