Donald Trump could be wearing a court-mandated ankle bracelet as he accepts the Republican presidential candidate nomination in 2024 according to James Comey.
The former FBI director, who was fired by Trump in 2017, spoke to MSNBC's Jen Psaki in a video that was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday. In the clip, the pair reflected on Trump's ongoing legal problems.
Trump is facing an investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) into whether he mishandled hundreds of classified documents after he left office in January 2021. The FBI seized the documents from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, last August, after Trump allegedly ignored a subpoena requiring him to turn them over.
Trump has maintained his innocence, saying that he was able to circumvent the traditional declassification process because he was president at the time.
However, last week Wednesday CNN reported that prosecutors had obtained a July 2021 recording of Trump speaking about keeping classified documents that purportedly details a potential attack on Iran.
The recording reportedly features Trump saying that the Iran document was not declassified, despite the former president having repeatedly claimed that he "automatically" declassified all of the documents he kept after leaving office.
Addressing this recent development, Comey went on to praise the usefulness of physical evidence, like audio, in cases like these. He added that it could be "so valuable" to Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to oversee the case.
Comey also noted that Trump facing these legal issues sets a new precedent as many have him as the most likely to receive the Republican presidential nomination for the 2024 election.
He also said the prosecution may be wishing to move forward with the case quickly this summer to avoid election-time investigations in 2024.
Psaki asked: "Can you envision a scenario where Trump manages to win back the White House and justice is delayed?"
Comey replied: "I could, I don't want to but I could. It is this crazy world that Donald Trump has dragged this country into but he could be wearing an ankle bracelet while accepting the nomination at the Republican convention [in 2024]."
He added: "It would be rejected if you put it in a script for a show but you could have a President who is potentially incarcerated when he is elected president, so that would be weird and awkward.
"It seems crazy to even be coming out of my mouth but that is the situation that we face.
"It looks like the Republicans will likely nominate someone who is under serious criminal investigation, is indicted, who knows where that is going to lead us."
Comey added that he believes the DOJ would charge Trump before he takes office, if he wins the election, if they intend to charge him at all. He also stated that these charges could come this summer but reiterated that he had no insider knowledge of the prosecution or the DOJ's intentions.
Newsweek has contacted Donald Trump via email for comment.
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About the writer
Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more
