Former President Donald Trump's conviction has set off a slippery slope about the rule of law when it comes to politicians, said Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., Friday on Newsmax.
"President Trump took the high road with Hillary Clinton. I mean, despite the fact of having tens of thousands of emails not on government servers and violation of the National Archive Act on her own servers, she illegally wiped them, so that they couldn't be accessed, a number of them were compartmented and top secret, but he took the high road and said, 'let's move forward as a country, we're not going to prosecute her and put her in jail,' " Waltz said Friday during an appearance on "Newsline."
"But you know what? Going forward, now that Pandora's Box is open, I could see red state DA's and attorney generals saying, 'enough is enough, if this is the way we're going to fight, we're going to fight,' and you already have candidates for Congress saying, 'elect me to put the Democrats in jail.'
"That's already coming out from sitting candidates. … Again, I think it's going to actually work for President Trump this election. But as a country, this is a sad day, and history is going to look back on it. I think the Democrats are going to look back on it and regret it."
Trump on Thursday became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime when a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence an adult film star ahead of the 2016 election.
The crime of falsifying business documents carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison, though those convicted often receive shorter sentences, fines or probation. Incarceration would not legally prevent him from campaigning, or taking office if he were to win.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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