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- Bolton said if the Manhattan DA flops Trump's case that could be "rocket fuel" for his campaign.
- The ex-national security advisor made the comments on CBS' "Face The Nation" on Sunday.
- "I'm worried about Alvin Bragg benefiting Donald Trump," Bolton argued.
Former national security advisor John Bolton said that if the Manhattan district attorney squanders Donald Trump's criminal case, it could be "rocket fuel" for the former president's campaign.
"I'm not worried about Alvin Bragg hurting Donald Trump. I'm worried about Alvin Bragg benefiting Donald Trump," Bolton told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, referring to the DA overseeing the ex-president's criminal case.
Trump is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday after a grand jury voted to indict him last week stemming from the DA's investigation into an alleged hush-money payment sent to adult film actress Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election.
"And this is where I think the outcome of the case is so important," said Bolton, who served as Trump's national security adviser from 2018-2019. "If Trump is acquitted or he gets the case dismissed because it's not legally sufficient or for whatever reason, that will be rocket fuel, because he can say, I told you it was a political prosecution, I told you I was being picked on, and now I've been vindicated."
—Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 2, 2023
Following the news of his indictment, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, and blamed the Democrats and insinuated that he was being targeted by them.
"These Thugs and Radical Left Monsters have just INDICATED the 45th President of the United States of America, and the leading Republican Candidate, by far, for the 2024 Nomination for President," Trump said in a separate post on Thursday.
The unprecedented indictment cemented Trump as the first former president to be criminally charged. Although announced on Thursday, the indictment remains sealed.
"If he's convicted, however, at some point before the campaign ends, I think that will have a very different impact on people. You can say it's a sleazy case and it involves sleazy people," Bolton told CBS.
"But if he's convicted of a crime, I think most Americans actually don't want a convicted felon to be their president."