Haley: Voters need to know outcome of Trump cases before Election Day

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says she would like to see all of former President Donald Trump’s legal cases “dealt with” before the general presidential election in November. 

In an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker on Thursday, Haley said, “We need to know what’s going to happen before the presidency happens because after that, should he become president, I don’t think any of that’s going to get heard.”

Haley is the only major candidate standing between Trump and the Republican nomination. However, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has, to date, failed to beat her former boss in any state primaries or caucuses.

She said she believes voters in November “are going to want to know what they’re walking into.”

“And if they’re walking into a president who’s still going to have to be in court or if they’re walking into a presidency where he can get rid of a court case, voters are going to want to know that,” Haley said.

She said the Supreme Court “needs to spell out” when the verdicts are issued.

But Haley conceded there is a chance that at least some of Trump’s legal issues could still be unsettled by Election Day. 

“I think he deserves the right to defend himself, and I think that, unfortunately, court cases take a long time and lawyers can drag them out,” she said. “And I think that’s probably going to happen.”

The former South Carolina governor stressed she’d want to see court cases resolved for any presidential candidate before an election. 

“I would want this for Biden. I would want it for Clinton. I want it for Trump,” she said. “This should be for any president. We need to make sure that no president ever thinks they’re above the law.”

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Trump’s claim that he should not be charged in a federal election interference case because he has presidential immunity. The order will delay the potential trial for months, possibly beyond Election Day.

Haley said she does not believe a president should have “free rein to do whatever they want to do.”

“I just think a president has to live according to the laws, too,” she said. “You don’t get complete immunity.”

Haley also said the classified documents cases involving Trump and President Joe Biden “should be treated the same way.”

Trump faces 41 charges for allegedly retaining classified documents after he left the White House and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them. Special counsel Jack Smith is seeking a July 8 start to the trial. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four criminal cases against him, including cases in New York and Georgia. 

Following his investigation into Biden, special counsel Robert Hur said the president concluded Biden “willfully” retained and disclosed classified materials when he was a private citizen but that the evidence did not meet the standard for criminal charges because there was a high probability the Justice Department would not be able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Haley said she finds fault with both Trump’s and Biden’s actions.

“I was at the United Nations,” Haley said. “I know what it’s like to be around classified information. We know how it’s supposed to be handled. You can’t even leave the room with it sitting on a desk  or you will get called out for it. You can get fined for it. This is something where you know how protected this is. You know people could be in danger if it gets in the wrong hands. And so the idea that both of these men claim they didn’t know they weren’t supposed to take it is impossible.”