Wednesday during an interview at the 2020 National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists Joint Virtual Convention, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden said that while prosecuting a former president would not be “good for democracy,” if elected he would not stand in the way of the Justice Department pursuing criminal charges against President Donald Trump after he is out of office.
Biden said, “Look, the Justice Department is not the president’s private law firm. The attorney general is not the president’s private lawyer. I will not interfere with the Justice Department’s judgment of whether or not they think they should pursue the prosecution of anyone that they think has violated the law.”
He continued, “It depends on what happens. I think it is a very, very unusual thing. And probably how can I say it? Not good for democracy to be talking about prosecuting former presidents.”
When asked what he meant by “what happens,” Biden said, “I don’t know what some of these cases going on in New York.”
He continued, “In terms of saying, ‘I think the president violated the law. I think the president did this, therefore, go on and prosecute him’ — I will not do that.”
He added, “I don’t think anybody is above the law.”
He concluded, “If those things that are underway prove to be a criminal offense, then, in fact, that would be up to the attorney general to decide whether he or she wanted to proceed with it. I am not going to make that individual judgment.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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