Hutchinson: Federal charges against Trump ‘serious and disqualifying’

Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson on Sunday said the federal charges former President Trump now faces in the classified documents case are “serious and disqualifying.”

Hutchinson said on ABC’s “This Week” that “cases don’t get any more serious than what’s been outlined” by special counsel Jack Smith “because you’re talking about the allegations of not handling our nation’s top secrets in accordance with law.”

“You’re talking about obstruction of justice. And these are serious. … and, obviously, Donald Trump should take him seriously, but the American people should because this case is most likely not going to come to trial before voters in Iowa and New Hampshire are going to have to decide the case, or decide the vote, which is going to involve them evaluating the seriousness of these charges,” the former Arkansas governor said.  

“And I view them serious and disqualifying, actually, for a commander in chief,” Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor, said of the charges.

Trump has pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 37 counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after his term in the White House ended. The federal government alleges that he violated the Espionage Act and obstructed justice by taking classified records with him when he left office and then refusing to hand them back to the government.

The former president is also facing a number of other legal battles as he campaigns for reelection in 2024, but he’s said he can’t see a case in which he drops out of the race.

“I think that he should drop out. Clearly, he’s not going to. This is going to be decided by the voters, which is the American process,” Hutchinson said on Sunday.