CNN’s KFile reviewed comments from the former President, dating back to his first presidential campaign in 2016, from speeches, interviews and comments made on social media.
Speaking in 2016 about the government’s decision not to charge Hillary Clinton with crimes related to their investigation into her handling of classified material and use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, then-candidate Trump repeatedly promised that his administration would strictly enforce all rules regarding classified material.
“Any government employee who engaged in this kind of behavior would be barred from handling classified information,” Trump said. “Again, that alone disqualifies her.”
It isn’t just Clinton who Trump has criticized, he also repeatedly called for the jailing of other opponents for what he said was the mishandling of classified material.
Trump also repeatedly and strongly called for the prosecution of his former National Security Adviser John Bolton. Following the publication of Bolton’s memoir from his time in the Trump White House, “The Room Where It Happened,” Trump said that the book contained classified information.
In 2020, Trump told Fox News that Bolton should go to jail for “many, many years” for releasing the memoir.
In an interview with Greta Van Susteren, Trump again called for Bolton’s imprisonment.
“I brought him back and gave him a chance,” the tweet read. “[He] broke the law by releasing Classified Information, in massive amounts. He must pay a very big price for this, as others have before him. This should never to happen again!!!”