Kelly weighed in on a pair of subjects that could help shape control of the White House and U.S. Senate after the 2024 elections.
By Ronald J. Hansen || The Arizona Republic
Sen. Mark Kelly greets attendees before giving his victory speech at Barrio Cafe on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in Phoenix. Kelly beat Blake Masters, GOP candidate, to secure his reelection.
Sen. Mark Kelly defended the criminal investigations of former President Donald Trump on the eve of a potential historic indictment and called Sen. Kyrsten Sinema “very effective” without taking sides in her possible reelection run against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego.
Appearing Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Kelly, D-Ariz., mostly condemned Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine and called the downing of an American drone last week an example of their pilots’ “incompetence,” which he said he saw firsthand as a NASA pilot.
But Kelly’s comments on Trump and Sinema touched on matters that could help shape control of the White House and Senate, with Arizona expected to play a significant role on both fronts.
Kelly: ‘Nobody is above the law’
Asked whether the expected charges from New York prosecutors justify an unprecedented case against a former president, Kelly said Trump should not be treated differently than anyone else.
“We’re a country of laws, and nobody is above the law,” he said. “I would hope that if they brought charges, they would have a strong case because this is, as you said, unprecedented. There’s certainly risks involved here, but again, nobody in our nation is or should be above the law.”
Trump has said he expects to be arrested on Tuesday as part of a case in New York that is believed to center on his $130,000 payment through his personal lawyer to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their sexual relationship.
It would be the first-ever indictment of a former U.S. president and could be just a first case against Trump, who is again running for president.
Prosecutors in Georgia are weighing charges relating to his effort to convince election officials there to “find” enough votes for him to win that state in the 2020 election. In Washington, the Justice Department is investigating Trump for hoarding hundreds of classified documents after leaving office despite repeated requests to return them.
