Sunny Hostin says she believes Donald Trump’s push to return to the White House in 2024 had less to do with politics and more to do with protection from prosecution.
On the Friday, January 23, episode of The View, the co-hosts reacted to special counsel Jack Smith’s testimony claiming there’s evidence Trump unlawfully stored classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Joy Behar questioned why Trump isn’t behind bars if the allegations are as serious as described.
“If he’s saying that he has the goods on the guy and that he broke the law, that he was hoarding classified documents and etcetera. Why isn’t Trump in jail, is what I wanna know,” Behar said.
Alyssa Farah Griffin replied that voters still backed him anyway.
“Because he won the election and 75 million people still voted for him, despite these facts,” Griffin said.
Behar pushed back again: “But if no one is above the law and even if he did win the election, why isn’t he in jail?”
Hostin pointed to long-standing Department of Justice policy.
“The DOJ policy is such that you cannot indict or prosecute a sitting president,” she explained.
Behar asked, stunned, “When did that happen?”
“It’s been DOJ policy for a long time,” Hostin responded, before making her bluntest claim of the segment: “I’ve said this before: I really do believe that the reason President Trump ran for the office of presidency again is because he wanted to avoid going to jail.”
Griffin Calls It a “Missed Opportunity”
Griffin argued that prosecutors had time to act before Trump returned to office.
“The reality of both the January 6 investigation and the documents investigation is — Sunny is absolutely right about this DOJ policy — but they knew they had a 4-year window to investigate, indict and try those crimes before the election,” she said. “And frankly, it was a missed opportunity, and a disservice to the public, in my view, that those were not adjudicated before the election.”
“Once He Won, It Was Game Over”
Griffin added that Trump’s victory effectively shut the door on accountability in the immediate term.
“Once he won, it was game over. Many of us were saying that at the time,” she said. “I get you want to do a thorough investigation. I get these are wide-ranging; in the case of January 6 conspiracies, that can take years to dig into. But it basically put it in the public’s court to decide, you know, be judge, jury and executioner in this case.”
