Last updated on May 21st, 2021 at 05:12 pm
MSNBC’s Ari Melber explained that Trump’s legal situation is much worse now because jail is potentially on the table.
Video:
Ari Melber explains that the Trumps’ legal problems have gotten much, much worse and jail is now on the table for Trump, his kids, and members of the Trump Organization. pic.twitter.com/2hBQWDR4He
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— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) May 19, 2021
Melber said on MSNBC on Wednesday when asked how much worse Trump’s legal problems have gotten:
Much, much worse. While no one is diminishing a civil probe, it can be costly, onerous, get into your private life, depositions under oath. With a criminal probe, people can wind up in jail. We don’t know who the probe would target. We don’t know if it will end with a finding that there isn’t enough to charge or they charge one or more people. The fact that jail would be on the table changes everything for anyone involved, for anyone worried they have exposure.
This is triggered by the fact that people who are under this kind of review do have rights. The investigation reached a point where, as reported, they are informing those involved. That would be presumably here Donald Trump, the head of the organization, but others involved. They need to know this is a criminal probe and could reach potentially the kind of charges that carry jail time. I think anyone who wasn’t awake at the Trump Organization yesterday is fully awake now.
The Trump Organization is very small. It is primarily made up of Trump, his kids, a Chief Financial Officer, and some support staff, so a criminal investigation of the Trump Organization is a criminal investigation of the Trump family.
For the first time, officially, jail is on the table for the Trumps. Whether or not they go to jail depends on how the legal process plays out, but this is a big step forward for those who want to see justice for what is suspected to be years and decades of criminal Trump activity.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association