Kamala Harris Says That Justice Department Would Have ‘No Choice’ But To Charge Trump If He Loses In 2020

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) stated that if Donald Trump were to lose the 2020 election, then the Justice Department would have “no choice” but to charge him with obstruction of justice.

In an interview with NPR on Wednesday, Harris said that if she were in office in 2021 and the Department of Justice (DOJ) was under her control, then she would absolutely press charges against Trump. “I believe there should be accountability. Everyone should be held accountable. And the president is not above the law,” said the senator. Harris pointed to the words written on the side of the Supreme Court, “equal justice under the law,” remarking, “It doesn’t say except for the president. There you go.”

Kamala Harris says she would pursue obstruction of justice charge against Trump as president https://t.co/mxJSKJlLXS

— TIME (@TIME) June 12, 2019

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.

Harris has been a staunch supporter of impeaching Trump, citing the report released by former special counsel Robert Mueller as evidence. Her resolve was only strengthened by Mueller’s recent statement, in which he explicitly said that he had not cleared Trump of any possible crimes. Part of the reason why Mueller didn’t charge the president in the first place was that it is illegal to indict a sitting president, meaning that the special counsel couldn’t legally accuse Trump of any wrongdoing.

But, if Trump is no longer in office after 2020, then he wouldn’t have the special privileges given to the commander-in-chief. Therefore, many Democrats are advocating for the president to be indicted once he leaves office, instead of attempting to impeach him while he still has executive privilege. This is one of the central ideas of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California), who has recently been fighting with her own party about how best to approach the idea of impeachment. Pelosi’s plan is for the president to be voted out of office in 2020, and then for the Democrats to pursue a conviction when he is vulnerable. So far she has been able to placate her party with such comments, but it remains to be seen whether or not the restless Democratic caucus will be satisfied with such tidbits.