Democratic Arizona senator says there are ‘risks involved’ in potential Trump indictment
By Aaron Pellish, CNN
Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly acknowledged there are “risks involved” in the potential indictment of former President Donald Trump by the Manhattan district attorney while reiterating that “nobody in our nation is or should be above the law.”
“I would hope that if they brought charges that they have a strong case, because this is, as you said, it’s unprecedented. And, you know, there’s certainly, you know, risks involved here,” Kelly said in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Kelly also defended Trump’s calls on social media for his supporters to stage protests and “take our nation back” ahead of a possible indictment and called on law enforcement agencies to do their part to keep any protests peaceful.
“The president’s supporters, they have First Amendment rights, and they should be able to exercise those peacefully. I think it’s going to be important for law enforcement to pay attention to, you know, protests and make sure it doesn’t rise to the level of violence,” Kelly told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Trump said Saturday he expects to be arrested in connection with the yearslong investigation into a hush money scheme involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels and called on his supporters to protest any such move.
In a social media post, Trump, referring to himself, said the “leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States will be arrested on Tuesday of next week” — though he did not say why he expects to be arrested. His team said after Trump’s post that it had not received any notifications from prosecutors.
The former president has been agitating for his team to get his base riled up and believes that an indictment would help him politically, multiple people briefed on the matter told CNN — a posture that potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu acknowledged on Sunday in a separate interview with Tapper.
“I think it’s building a lot of sympathy for the former president,” Sununu said on “State of the Union.”
“So, I just think that the — not just the media, but really a lot of the Democrats have misplayed this, in terms of building sympathy for the former president. And it does drastically change the paradigm as we go into the ’24 election,” he said.
Kelly on Sunday declined to say whether he would support fellow Arizona senator Independent Kyrsten Sinema if she decides to run for re-election, but praised her record in the Senate, calling her “very effective.”
“I’ve worked with her very closely over the last two years. I mean, really, in a very positive way. She’s very effective in the United States Senate. We’ve gotten a lot done and I look forward to doing that, you know, over the next months in the — in the rest of this year,” Kelly said.
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CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Kristen Holmes and Paula Reid contributed to this report.
