Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill may want to see former President Trump go to prison, but they don’t want to say so publicly.
Although polls show that an overwhelming majority of Democratic voters want Trump behind bars, Democrats are generally being careful with their official public comments because they don’t want to be accused of trying to influence Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Juan Merchan before of Trump’s election. Judgment of July 11th.
One exception is Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a 29-year House veteran who has publicly expressed the private frustrations of many of his colleagues who feel that Trump has acted as if he was above the law for too long.
Asked Wednesday whether Trump should face prison time, Doggett said, “Yes, I do.”
“I would leave that to the judge… who has shown more patience than Job in this case,” he said. “But part of the purpose of any prison sentence, however modest, is to deter this type of conduct.
“And President Trump continues to show complete disregard for the judicial system, and I believe that more than a modest fine is appropriate to try to discourage the conduct this time,” he added.
Asked to clarify that he would like to see Trump behind bars, Doggett responded: “I would.”
“I think any community service he would do would be a disservice,” he added.
Representative Jasmine Crockett echoed this sentiment last weekend, telling MSNBC “I absolutely think he should go to prison.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said he wanted the former president to be “treated like every other guy in New York who so defrauded the state and the voters. He should be treated no better or worse than any other New Yorker. If that lands him in prison, so be it.”
A Democratic senator who requested anonymity predicted that Trump would lose the election and end up in prison.
“I think he should get jail time based on that, on January 6th. I think if you put together a whole series of things that I think he will be found guilty of, it will probably lead to prison time,” said the lawmaker, who also cited Trump’s role in inciting the January 6, 2021 attack on US Capitol.
Democrats see Trump’s role in stirring up his supporters before the Jan. 6 attack as his greatest crime, but the case being prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith is in limbo as the Supreme Court weighs the immunity claims raised by the team. Trump’s legal case.
“Do I think he did enough to deserve to go to prison? Yes, of course,” said the senator. “I’ve had PTSD for almost a year walking down the hallway and wondering what was happening in the rotunda.”
Some Democratic lawmakers see Trump serving time for the comparatively minor offense of falsifying business records to cover up secret payments to a porn star as a measure of justice, when it is uncertain whether the other criminal cases against him will ever reach verdicts.
“Al Capone got caught in tax records,” the senator said, noting that one of the most notorious gangsters of the 1920s was finally arrested for tax evasion.
A second Democratic senator who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue said Democratic voters nationwide say Trump should go to prison.
“Ah, yes, they think he should go to jail,” said the senator. “But the emotion comes less from this issue than from the fact that he has abused people his entire life.”
“So there is a feeling that it would be fair for him to stay behind bars,” the senator added.
A CBS News poll of 989 American adults, conducted May 30 to June 1, found that 75% of Democrats said Trump should serve time in prison. Just 34% of independents and 6% of Republicans said the same.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll of 2,556 U.S. residents conducted May 30-31 found that 81 percent of Democrats said Trump should go to prison for falsifying business records.
The poll found that 45% of independents and 11% of Republicans agreed that Trump should be punished with prison time.
Republicans believe the New York guilty verdict will resonate with Democrats, enraging Trump supporters before November. Trump and his allies have repeatedly presented the former president as a victim of politicized prosecutions.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said his Democratic colleagues want to put Trump in prison, even if they don’t say so publicly.
“I think they do? Oh yeah. That’s what this whole case is about. Yes, of course,” he said. “They want him to stay off the ballot, but that hasn’t worked.”
Some other Democratic lawmakers came close to saying publicly that Trump should go to prison for his role in fueling the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“Trump should be judged for what he did. What he did was incite and implement an insurrection. This is why he should be judged. And the people who carried out the insurrection were put in prison. In America, we believe that no one is above the law,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), former House Majority Leader.
But many Democrats in Congress, including avowed progressives, are unwilling to say publicly that Trump should go to prison for his crimes in hiding hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
“I think that’s up to a judge,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) when asked whether Trump should face prison time.
“I have no experience with typical sentences for cases like these, but I think the president should be treated the same way any other American country that has committed 34 crimes for fraudulent behavior would be,” she added. “I really think he should be treated like an ordinary person.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the House Progressive Caucus, declined to offer an opinion on what sentence Trump should receive.
“I don’t know. I want this to be left to the judge because I didn’t analyze what is typical for this type of crime,” she said.
Asked about the possible prison sentence, Jayapal said: “I would like to see him get what other people get for a similar offence.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), an outspoken critic of Trump, refused to bring up the issue.
“I’m not going to comment on whether he should go to jail. I don’t want to impact the decision at this time. I think the decision on punishment in this case is up to the judge,” he said.
“We want the basic outcome here to be that Donald Trump is treated like any other defendant. He is not above the law,” he said.
Asked whether Trump should go to prison, Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said, “I think the judge will decide.”
“I’ll leave that to the court process,” he said.
Republican lawmakers, on the other hand, did not hesitate to condemn the Manhattan jury’s guilty verdict.
“The Democrats armed the judicial system, held a trial worthy of a banana republic with a judge who donated to Joe Biden’s campaign. It’s a total and complete sham,” National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines (R-Mont.) declared at a Senate GOP leadership press conference on Tuesday.
Daines said Monday that “we should not allow a kangaroo court to interfere in this election.”
That prompted a scathing response from Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, calling Daines’ attacks on the court “ridiculous.”
“This is the American judicial system and I have faith in the judicial system. The jurors made a decision after hearing all the evidence,” he said. “We have to have respect for our judicial institutions. It is irresponsible of you to tear down our judicial system in this country. It is the basis of our democracy.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
