Donald Trump Worried About Jail Time: Ex-Aide

Alyssa Farah Griffin, former staffer in the administration of ex-President Donald Trump, suggested on Tuesday that her onetime boss "honestly is worried that he will end up in jail."

Trump is the leading candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination as he seeks to retake the White House, but also faces four criminal indictments at the federal and state level, with a total of 91 criminal charges. While Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of these charges and accused prosecutors of attempting to harm his political prospects, polls have suggested that a conviction on even just one of them could see potential voters shift away from supporting him in large numbers.

During a CNN appearance on Tuesday, Griffin discussed the fear of these criminal cases that she believes is driving Trump. Griffin served in various roles during her time in the Trump administration, including director of strategic communications, but has emerged as a prominent critic of her former boss' conduct since leaving the White House in late 2020.

During her appearance, the former aide claimed that Trump fears Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Counsel Jack Smith "in a big way" and is genuinely afraid of ending up in jail. Her comments came in response to Trump's recent Christmas Day social media post in which he said of Smith and others aligned against him, "may they rot in hell."

"It's kind of vintage Donald Trump," Griffin said. "He is known for these kinds of unhinged holiday rants and then he follows up with a clip of him on Home Alone II. Listen, it shows that Jack Smith lives in his head in a very big way. He is very concerned about the DOJ investigation into the events around January 6th. This is the driving force behind his political campaign."

She continued: "As much as his campaign advisers would want it to be the economy, jobs, foreign policy, he keeps going back to the fact that he honestly is worried that he will end up in jail. He needs to get elected president to pardon himself. So kind of his true colors are showing when he makes it all about Jack Smith and then puts a bow on it with the old 'rot in hell' at the end."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office via email for comment Tuesday.

In the past, Trump has pledged that he will continue to campaign from prison if convicted of any charges. While the former president can be barred from seeking elected office by courts or Congress if they determine that he has engaged in insurrection, he would be allowed under law to continue seeking the presidency from jail if found guilty of other criminal charges.