Earlier this week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a frank conversation with Democratic leaders in the House and when pressed on impeachment, she reportedly said the following:
“I don’t want to see him impeached, I want to see him in prison,” Pelosi said, according to multiple Democratic sources familiar with the meeting. Instead of impeachment, Pelosi still prefers to see Trump defeated at the ballot box and then prosecuted for his alleged crimes, according to the sources.
As Speaker Pelosi and many legal experts have noted, if Donald Trump were not currently the president of the United States, he would be facing multiple charges of obstruction of justice, charges that Trump could face when he leaves office. As Special Counsel Robert Mueller noted, he was not empowered to bring charges because of a Nixon-era legal memo from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel which says the president is immune from prosecution while in office.
The Mueller report outlined ten instances where Donald Trump obstructed justice. The evidence was so substantial in three of those cases that more than 1,000 former federal prosecutors signed a letter stating the “overwhelming weight of professional judgment would come down in favor of prosecution for the conduct outlined in the Mueller Report.”
If Donald Trump wins in 2020, he may be able to run out the clock on these potential obstruction charges because of a five year statute of limitations. As Politico notes, it is unclear whether the statute of limitations would be put on hold during a second term or whether they would expire. If he wins in 2020, don’t hold your breath he’ll ever face charges.
With all of that backstory, how did Fox News and Trump’s best friend, Sean Hannity, react to Pelosi’s comments about wanting to see Trump in prison? He used his show on Thursday night to scold Pelosi, saying—with a completely straight face—“She wants a political opponent locked up, in prison? That happens in Banana Republics! Beyond despicable behavior.”
The level of hypocrisy from Republicans is absolutely insane. Say one thing and then do another. Rinse and repeat. Of course Sean Hannity as recently as April 2019 was calling for a new investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. How many times over the last 4 years has Sean Hannity played and cheered Donald Trump’s “Lock her up” chants at Trump campaign rallies? In case you needed a reminder, here is a super clip of those chants, with helpful commentary from our own Dave Neiwert.