Haberman says hush money sentencing won’t curb retaliation threat: Trump’s ‘very angry’
CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman said President-elect Trump’s hush money sentencing could end in a public fallout over the New York criminal charges.
“He’s very angry about this case in particular. And he may decide that he wants some kind of a display of fighting it,” Haberman said during a Friday evening appearance on “The Situation Room.”
“I don’t think we’re going to know that for another two days or so,” she added.
Trump is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 10 before Judge Juan Merchan following his guilty conviction by a jury last spring.
The former president has long argued that prosecutors were pursuing him on a “rigged charade” seeking revenge for his political success. Trump’s federal criminal cases have been dismissed under long-standing Justice Department policy precluding the criminal prosecution of a sitting president. Trump argued his New York case should be tossed, too, now that he is returning to the White House, but Merchan declined to do so.
This comes as Trump has promised retribution against some of his political opponents once in office, particularly former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who served an important role on the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, which some lawmakers say Trump encouraged.
Trump said Cheney broke the law while reviewing his actions and must be held accountable.
“Liz Cheney could be in a lot of trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee, which states that ‘numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, and these violations should be investigated by the FBI,’” Trump wrote in a Dec. 18 post on Truth Social.
The White House considered preemptive pardons for Trump critics, including Cheney, which is an idea that has divided Democrats.
Updated at 4:57 p.m. EST
Zach Schonfeld contributed to this report.
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