'Stone-cold loser': Ex-prosecutor says Trump's double jeopardy argument is doomed to fail

Out of all of Trump's legal "Hail Marys," the notion that he can't be tried criminally after being absolved through impeachment could be dead on arrival.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance, appearing on MSNBC's "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell, called it a "stone-cold loser."

O'Donnell played a clip of then-U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaking about the fact that if former President Donald Trump was believed to have committed a crime — he was still in legal jeopardy based on the way the U.S. government is structured.

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"President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office," said McConnell back in 2021. "As an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has run out, he's still liable for everything he did while in office."

"Didn't get away with anything," and raised his index finger, saying, "Yet. Yet."

He added: "We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. Former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one."

And Vance gave a fulsome endorsement to this notion.

"We have seen Mitch McConnell literally taking the principle for granted when he speaks from the floor of the Senate," she said. "That is because of separation of powers in this country; three branches, each with its own distinct responsibilities and rights."

She then sandbagged Trump's argument that an impeachment victory warrants protection from further prosecution.

"Impeachment is something that happens in the legislative branch; prosecution happens in the executive branch," Vance explained. "Jack Smith has made this argument powerfully before the [D.C.] Court of Appeals... It's absolutely a stone-cold loser."

Watch the segment below or at this link.