Mulvaney: Trump indictment is inevitable

Former Trump White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said he thinks it is “inevitable” the former president will be indicted on charges from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, though he said he is unsure how any potential arrest would play out.

“I do think he’s going to be indicted,” Mulvaney said Thursday on CNN, citing multiple factors including timing on the case.

“I don’t understand the arrest part,” he continued. “Whether or not he’ll surrender himself. Whether or not they’ll require him to surrender himself.”

The Manhattan DA has been investigating hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Trump himself said over the weekend that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday in connection with the probe, though he has not since been indicted.

Trump and his allies have painted the investigation and the Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg (D), as corrupt and politically motivated. House Republicans have called on Bragg to testify in front of Congress amid the ongoing investigation.

Mulvaney, who served as acting chief of staff for Trump from 2019 to 2020, said individuals on both sides of the political aisle have something to focus on if Trump is indicted, with some arguing Trump could seek to capitalize politically on charges heading into the 2024 primary.

“I think it’s one of those rare cases where the extreme left in this country and the extreme right want the same thing, which is that they want Donald Trump to be arrested,” said Mulvaney, who resigned from the Trump administration as special envoy to Northern Ireland after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

“The left wants to see him frog marched in his orange jumpsuit and the right wants to see him arrested because they think it will show that this has been a political witch hunt the whole time.”