Former Fulton County prosecutor Nathan Wade, who had been leading the case against Donald Trump and his allies in Georgia until his resignation earlier this year after his relationship with District Attorney Fani Willis came to light, claimed Wednesday that even if the former president won re-election, he could still be tried and imprisoned if convicted—a belief that elicited skepticism from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
When Collins asked Wade if it would be constitutional for a sitting president to be put on trial and then potentially jailed, Wade at first suggested that it would be.
“So let’s look at the question in reverse,” he replied. “Are you asking me if there’s anyone who’s above the law at any point in time in their life?”
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“No, but I don’t think it‘s been litigated about a sitting president going on trial. We’ve never seen that,” the anchor of The Source replied.
A Department of Justice memo from 2000—stating that such an indictment or prosecution would be unconstitutional—seems to be the extent of the government weighing in on the matter. Trump was not indicted during his four years as president.
Wade then acknowledged how unique prosecuting Trump would be should he regain the presidency.
“This is a new animal, but if he wins the election, then certainly there are lawyers out there who will be charged with figuring out that issue and maneuvering around it,” he said.
“I do believe that he can,” he added more definitively moments later after Collins clarified whether Wade believed Trump could be prosecuted.
“I don’t believe that it looks good to the rest of the world, but certainly I don’t think there’s anything that would prevent that from happening,” he continued. “If he’s convicted, then just like any other defendant who is convicted, then you go through the sentencing process.”
Collins appeared doubtful.
“But I don’t think people think a sitting president would actually be sent to jail. I mean, it would create a moment like we’ve never seen in this country with the Secret Service, with who’s enforcing that, and, of course, he would be the head of a federal branch of government,” as Collins put it.
“So now that’s a much different question,” Wade responded. “We know that the sentencing thing is totally up to the trial court judge that’s sitting there now. He’s charged with making those types of decisions with special prosecutors on that.”
With Trump’s Georgia case on hold until an appeals court decides whether Willis should be removed, any trial proceedings are still months away.
