Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) on Wednesday argued there should be a “much, much higher bar” for indicting former President Trump.
Waltz, who endorsed the now three-times indicted Trump in April, said he thought the matter of Trump being both a 2024 candidate and former president should dissuade prosecutors from pressing charges against him. He added that the Justice Department (DOJ) should’ve taken those elements of the case into consideration before releasing an indictment.
“What I’m saying is that someone, I would think, in the Department of Justice should say, ‘Hey, folks, let’s tap the brakes here,’” Waltz said on CNN. “‘This is not only a former president, it’s a sitting candidate, who is the leading voice and the leading political candidate against our boss.’”
Waltz’s comments come one day after Trump was indicted by DOJ special counsel Jack Smith on charges stemming from his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election.
CNN chief White House correspondent Phil Mattingly pushed back on Waltz’s statements Wednesday, referencing a common argument Trump’s allies have floated of a “two-tiered” system of justice.
“If you have to have a higher bar for a former president, isn’t that a two-tiered justice system?” Mattingly asked.
Waltz responded, claiming the fact that Trump’s “leading political opponent” is “in power” should be considered when attempting to bring charges against him. He added that the consideration of that factor should be “obvious.”
“It’s not as though someone walked in on President Trump holding a gun over a murder victim or he was caught selling secrets to the Chinese or Russians,” Waltz said. “These are incredibly complex legal theories that a lot of people are going to debate, and now that we’re in an election year, someone should have said, ‘Hey, folks, let’s slow down here.’”
The former president has also been charged in two separate cases, including a 40-count federal indictment over his handling of classified materials after leaving office, and a 34-count indictment from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in connection to a payment made to a porn actress ahead of the 2016 election.