In early January, George Conway, a former Trump ally who since 2018 has been an outspoken critic of the former president, spoke about a private conversation he and Trump had in 2017. What the former president said, Conway argued, implies that Trump has long sought the office of the presidency to avoid facing punishment for the various investigations into his alleged crimes.
Legal trouble
On Jan 7, Conway appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” speaking with Mika Brzezinski. “You look at Maine, Colorado, the documents case, Georgia, election interference,” Brzezinski said. “You look at the civil fraud suit in New York City. You look at E. Jean Carroll and Stormy Daniels. I mean,… I can’t think of someone who has more legal challenges facing him. I don’t know how many lawyers he has or can get.”
Buried memory
Brzezinski’s recap of Trump’s legal woes appeared to jog Conway’s memory. “I didn’t realize this at the time,” he said, “but I flew down to Washington on a plane with him before the [2017] inauguration, and he asked me, should he fire the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York?”
Dismissal
At the time, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York was Preet Bharara, described by the New York Times as one of America’s “most aggressive and outspoken prosecutors of public corruption and Wall Street crime.” In March 2017, Bharara was dismissed after refusing to accept a request for his resignation from Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Realization
“You know,… I didn’t realize it then,” Conway continued, “but [Trump] had to be thinking about him not wanting to be investigated. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times said a couple of times in 2020 [that] one of the reasons why Trump was running was to avoid prosecution because you can’t prosecute a sitting president.”
Presidential immunity
Trump’s lawyers have argued that he should receive “absolute immunity” from the federal charges that he attempted to overturn the 2020 election. In December 2023, a group of officials and lawyers described Trump’s argument as “absurd.”
Dangerous future
Jack Smith, the special counsel leading the insurrection investigation into Trump, argued in December that upholding the former president’s immunity defense would “severely undermine the compelling public interest in the rule of law and criminal accountability.”
Smith claimed that complete presidential immunity “would allow a president to order the National Guard to murder his critics, sell nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary, or direct the FBI Director to plant incriminating evidence on a political enemy,” per Axios.
No choice
“He has to run here,” Conway argued, “because … it’s a get-out-of-jail card if he is elected.” “You’re saying he could beat the clock?” Brzezinski asked.
Tick tock
She was referring to the race to finish Trump’s trial before the 2024 election is concluded. Should Trump win before the case is completed, he could theoretically pardon himself or direct the Justice Department to dismiss the case.
Unlikely
“No, I don’t think he is going to beat the clock,” Conway said. “I think that … the January 6 case before Judge Chutkan is going to be tried this summer at the latest.”
Selfish goals
“He is running for his freedom,” Conway asserted. “In terms of the criminal cases, I think he’s always had this fear of being prosecuted.”
Grim prediction
Trump “is a man who probably, in my estimation, is going to spend the rest of his life in a federal or state prison,” Conway concluded.
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