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MaddowBlog

From The Rachel Maddow Show

GOP rep suggests hush money scandal will ‘blow over’ for odd reason

One House Republican said the possible case against Donald Trump would "blow over" because he wouldn't show up in court. That's not how this works.

By Steve Benen

Rep. Claudia Tenney is a conservative Republican, so it was hardly a surprise when the New York congresswoman was dismissive of Donald Trump’s hush money scandal yesterday, telling Newsmax that the case against the former president is “garbage.”

But as The Daily Beast noted, in the same on-air interview with the conservative outlet, Tenney went just a little further when sharing her expectations.

“It’s really the worst of our system on display here and it’s unfortunate,” Tenney declared. “But I think this is all going to blow over because I don’t see any way that they’re actually going to get Donald Trump to appear in a court for sentencing — or I mean for indictment, or any type of charge.”

It was a curious claim, but that really is what she said.

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California published a tweet soon after, explaining: “Dear @RepTenney: As a former prosecutor, I wanted you to know that it doesn’t work like that.”

I don’t know if the congresswoman — who practiced law before her political career — lost her train of thought and ended up saying something she didn’t really mean, but in case anyone heard Tenney’s comments and believed them, it’s worth noting just how very wrong she was — and how correct Lieu was.

For one thing, the former president’s defense attorney in this case has already said Trump would follow normal procedures and surrender to authorities in New York in the event of an indictment.

For another, criminal charges don’t simply “blow over” when a defendant fails to show up. If that were the case, suspected criminals would take full advantage of the opportunity and our judicial system would soon be rendered meaningless.

Let’s make this plain: I don’t know if Trump will be indicted, but if he is, the former president will have some options. Ignoring the charge or charges will not be among them, and hiding in Florida in the hopes that the case will “blow over” will not be an effective strategy.

Donald Trump investigations: Follow our live blog for the latest updates and expert analysis on potential indictments.

Steve Benen

Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics."