SEPTEMBER 19, 2022
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a Save America Rally to support Republican candidates running for state and federal offices in the state at the Covelli Centre on September 17 in Youngstown, Ohio. – Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
Mary Trump, the niece of former President Donald Trump and his avid critic, sarcastically said this week that the country will “run out of beer” if her uncle was indicted for keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort residence, in reference to a recent interview in which he said “big problems” would happen in the country if he were to be indicted.
“Donald said recently that there will be ‘big problems’ if he’s indicted and he’s right. There will be big problems for him. I know that he was in his not-too-subtle way, threatening the rest of us with the violence of his insane followers,” she said during an episode of The Mary Trump Show that was posted by Politicon to YouTube on Saturday.
“But, you know that’s not going to happen. There is not going to be some mass uprising to protest the fact that Donald finally for once in his life is being held accountable. The real problem is that we’re probably going to run out of beer,” she added.
Her remarks came in reference to a Thursday interview that the ex-president had with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, who asked him if his chances of running again for president in 2024 would be deterred if prosecutors indict him.
“I don’t think the people of the United States would stand for it. And as you know, if a thing like that happened, I would have no prohibition against running,” Trump responded. “I think if it happened, I think you’d have problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before. I don’t think the people of the United States would stand for it.”
When asked about the kind of problems that could happen if he was indicted, Trump said: “I think they’d have big problems, big problems. I just don’t think they’d stand for it. They will not, they will not sit still and stand for this ultimate of hoaxes. We went through phony impeachments. We went through phony Mueller reports that came out with no collusion. We came, everything that they’ve done to try and stop progress.”
Last month, FBI agents raided Mar-a-Lago to seize classified documents that Trump took from the White House last year after leaving office. The raid was conducted following an approval from Attorney General Merrick Garland and after law enforcement received a tip from an informant who knew what type of documents Trump kept and where he kept them.
The documents reportedly include sensitive information related to nuclear weapons and “highly classified programs,” which prompted some experts to suggest that he might be in violation of the Espionage Act under which he could face up to 10 years in prison, a fine, or both if convicted.
“By the way, he stole hundreds of highly classified top secret documents that belonged to America. So maybe we should indict him, charge him, convict him, and imprison him,” Mary Trump said during her show.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing since the FBI raid and said that he declassified the seized documents before he left office. However, former Department of Justice (DOJ) official Mary McCord said that he had no authority to do so after leaving office, according to Reuters.
A federal judge recently responded to Trump’s request to bring a special master who would be tasked to look into the seized documents and determine whether any of the materials are protected by executive privilege or attorney-client privilege. Former New York federal chief judge Raymond Dearie was appointed to serve as the special master and he is expected to complete the review by November 30.
