House arrest in Trump Tower or Mar-a-Lago? Former President Donald Trump says he wouldn’t mind.
But the 45th president warned that any form of confinement following his historic unprecedented conviction last Thursday could bring the nation to its “breaking point.”
“I’m okay with it. I saw one of my lawyers the other day on television saying, ‘Oh no, you don’t want to do that to the [president],'” Trump, 77, said on “Fox & Friends Weekend” when asked how he feels about the prospect of house arrest or even jail time.
“Don’t beg for anything. It’s just the way it is.”
While he may be trying to convey a zen attitude about the specter of up to 20 years behind bars, the ex-commander-in-chief predicted the country would not take it well, noting that prosecutors “never went all the way with the Clinton Foundation.”
“I’m not sure the public would stand for it,” Trump contended. “I think it’d be tough for the public to take. At a certain point, there’s a breaking point.”
Last Thursday, a 12-member jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts related to falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments.
He is the first former president in US history to face a criminal conviction but maintains his innocence and has vowed to appeal it.
“I’m fighting for the Constitution,” Trump told the network. “Take a look at who opened the case. I’m not allowed to talk about it because I have a gag order,” he later added.
“These people are sick, they’re sick, they’re deranged.”
On March 26, New York County Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan slapped Trump with a gag order to restrict his ability to attack key people in the case such as the judge’s family.
Merchan made a small donation of $15 to President Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign and another $20 to progressive groups but was still allowed to oversee the case.
His daughter has done work for Democrats and Trump has long alluded to gripes over him being restricted from bringing it up. Trump believes he is still under the gag order, but it appears to be in question.
After the historic conviction, Republicans experienced a fundraising bonanza with Trump’s campaign claiming to have raked in some $53 million within the first 24 hours.
Trump is slated to face sentencing in the case on July 11, days before the Republican National Convention.
He’s also facing another 54 counts spanning three other indictments, including the Mar-a-Lago document case, the 2020 election tampering case, and the 2020 Georgia election subversion case.
None of those pending cases have trial start dates scheduled. Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Meanwhile, congressional Republicans have made clear they intend to seek testimony from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, over his prosecution of Trump.
President Biden, who is set to square off with Trump in the first of this cycle’s two scheduled televised debates on June 27, addressed his rival’s conviction Friday and ripped into allegations that the process was rigged.
“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed,” the 81-year-old Biden said Friday.
“Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself. It was a state case, not a federal case, and it was heard by 12 citizens, 12 Americans, 12 people like you, like millions of Americans who served on juries. This jury was chosen the same way every jury in America is chosen.”
The president’s son Hunter is set to stand trial this week over his three-count indictment for alleged illegal possession of a firearm while addicted to illicit drugs. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty. Jury selection is set to begin Monday.