Donald Trump's classified documents case is incredibly serious, but the upcoming charges the former president will likely face from special counsel Jack Smith for election interference are different for one key reason, according to a MSNBC national security analyst.
Former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence Frank Figliuzzi appeared on MSNBC on Saturday and was asked why the potential 2020 election case is worth noting when Trump faces so many other legal troubles. Specifically, the host asked about Figliuzzi previously claiming "the 2020 election is different since it involves a former president who tried to interfere with the peaceful transition of power."
"Tell us why this case is so important, why we shouldn't become numb to Trump's legal peril, that we say, oh no, here's another Trump charge or another Trump indictment, whether or a potential state level or potentially another federal one?" the host asked.
Figliuzzi replied:
"Of all the cases and charges that Trump is facing so far, and I in no way mean to denigrate them. In fact, I am incensed about the documents case, I dealt with classified information for the bulk of my career and that's serious. But this one, this one is different because it goes to the heart of our democratic process a free and fair elections and having our vote count."
He added:
IN OTHER NEWS: Trump 'failing to make inroads' in bid to woo auto workers union away from Biden: report
"This is a civil rights charge---while it's going to be uniquely applied in this set of circumstances---this charge was enacted, way back when, to enable agents and prosecutors to go into the deep south [and] work against the Ku Klux Klan, who was preventing minorities from voting."
In its origins, he noted, "This charge is right and it goes to the heart of whether we are going to continue as a democracy to have our votes count. This one's different. It counts, it means everything moving forward as a democracy."
