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Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist under the Trump administration, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought on the hush money case against the former president, will be jailed if Trump wins a second term.
Trump, who is the GOP presidential nominee, criminally falsified business records to conceal a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping secret her rumored affair with Trump from the 2016 presidential electorate, according to the New York jury. Trump has maintained his innocence, claiming the case was politically motivated against him. His legal team pledged to fight the verdict and appeal the case if necessary.
Following the verdict, many of Trump's allies shared their disdain of both the outcome and the justice system. And now it seems that they want retribution.
"Of course [Bragg] should be—and will be—jailed," Bannon, who hosts the conservative talk show War Room and is a leading voice of Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, told Axios in an article published on Wednesday.
Bannon cited the 14th Amendment, which ensures equal protection under the law, and the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, "plus scores of other" laws as a way to target Bragg. However, the article did not elaborate on how these laws could be used to prosecute Bragg.
There is no evidence to suggest any wrongdoing by Bragg, whose prosecution of Trump was upheld by the jury. Newsweek reached out to Bragg's office and Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.
Following the verdict, Bragg said at a news conference last Thursday: "I did my job," adding, "There are many voices out there, but the only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken."
When reached for comment by Newsweek, Bannon referred to a New York Times article published on Monday, in which Bannon told the publication, "There are dozens of ambitious backbencher [Republican] state attorneys general and district attorneys who need to 'seize the day' and own this moment in history" by prosecuting Democrats.
Bannon will face his own trial in September before a New York court after he was indicted on six counts for allegedly defrauding thousands of donors who were giving money to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border in a case brought on by Bragg and State Attorney General Letitia James.
Bannon pleaded not guilty to all charges and his attorney David Schoen said at a court hearing in September 2022 that Bannon "intends to fight these charges all the way."
Trump's allies have claimed that the former president's guilty verdict and the three other criminal indictments he faces—all of which he has pleaded not guilty to—are brought on by Democratic operatives trying to interfere with the upcoming election that is likely going to be a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden, the Democratic incumbent.
Last Friday, Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who has been floated as a potential running mate for Trump, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "Our current President is a demented man propped up by wicked & deranged people willing to destroy our country to remain in power. It's time to fight fire with fire," using flame emojis to represent the fire.
Bannon also suggested that House Republicans go after "government officials and private actors."
He told Newsweek via text message on Saturday: "The House Judiciary Committee should issue subpoenas for documents, staff depositions, and public hearings to the government officials and private actors who are conspiring to violate the civil rights of President Trump, his aides, and his allies by waging this unprecedented, Republic-ending lawfare and election interference."
What has Trump said?
Speaking to the conservative outlet Newsmax on Tuesday, Trump added to his recent false claims that he had never called for his rival in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, to be jailed.
"I said, 'wouldn't it really be bad? … Wouldn't it be terrible to throw the president's wife and the former secretary of state—think of it, the former secretary of state—but the president's wife into jail? Wouldn't that be a terrible thing?" Trump said.
"But they want to do it," Trump added, in an apparent reference to his political opponents. "So, you know, it's a terrible, terrible path that they're leading us to, and it's very possible that it's going to have to happen to them."
Meanwhile, Trump denied that he will seek retribution in a second term at a Fox News town hall in Iowa this past January, saying, "We're going to make this country so successful again. I'm not going to have time for retribution."
The "lock her up" chant was ignited in the wake of the Clinton email scandal in which former Democratic secretary of state and 2016 presidential nominee was investigated by the FBI in the run-up to the election that year after being found to have used a personal email server for official communications, including some that the FBI said contained classified information.
The FBI said it found no evidence of intentional misconduct tantamount to criminality, though former Director James Comey said Clinton and her aides had been "extremely careless" in their handling of classified information.
While Trump has occasionally attempted to distance himself from the chant, telling crowds after his 2016 election win "Now we don't say that," he has repeatedly suggested or outright called for Clinton's imprisonment.
For example, at a rally in Redding, California, in June 2016, Trump said Clinton should be in jail.
"I think Hillary is very weak, I think she's pathetic, I think she should be in jail for what she did with her emails, ok? I think she should be in jail."
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About the writer
Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more