RNC drops the hammer: you must pledge to back the nominee even if they're a convicted felon

The Republican National Committee oversees a loyalty pledge for GOP presidential candidates to take, whereby they agree to back the eventual nominee even if it's not them. This pledge is required to be able to participate in official primary debates.

This week, the committee clarified that this pledge will still apply even if the nominee is convicted of serious crimes, according to POLITICO.

"In light of Donald Trump’s indictment for his handling of classified documents, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s campaign on Wednesday requested a meeting with RNC officials about amending the loyalty pledge, according to two people with knowledge of the conversation granted anonymity to speak candidly about a private conversation," reported Natalie Allison and Steven Shepard. "Members of RNC leadership arranged a call with Hutchinson on Thursday, but the former governor himself did not take part in the conversation, only a staff member. During the brief call, RNC leaders declined to make any changes to debate requirements and told the staffer the committee is 'not dealing with hypotheticals' on Trump’s legal fate. One of the individuals with knowledge of the call described it as 'contentious.'"

Hutchinson is one of the Republican candidates reacting most forcefully to Trump's indictment for violations of the Espionage Act, following a year-long Justice Department special counsel investigation into boxes of highly classified defense information hoarded at the former president's Mar-a-Lago residence in South Florida.

Hutchinson has called on the former president to drop out of the race, and has also said he cannot vote for Trump if he is convicted.

"Though it’s unclear if Hutchinson would meet the other qualifications for the debate in August, the back and forth between the campaign and RNC highlights the conundrum the latter is in," said the report. "Forcing candidates to pledge loyalty to one another may appear to be squarely in the party’s interest. But with the former president’s lengthy list of legal battles hovering over next year’s campaign it now carries some risk, including to the committee’s commitment to neutrality in the primary."

Trump has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in the documents case, claiming with no evidence there is a conspiracy against him and that he had a right to remove the documents — though Trump's private conversations, obtained by prosecutors, appear to show he knew he did not in fact have that right.