Tim Kaine on Donald Trump espionage charges: ‘Presumed innocent, until proven guilty’

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine stressed in a media call on Wednesday that indicted former president Donald Trump should be “presumed innocent, until proven guilty.”

Interesting observation there, that Trump, facing 37 counts related to violations of the Espionage Act, is actually facing criminal charges that, one day, will be adjudicated.

That’s a stark contrast to what we’re hearing from Republicans, who aren’t exactly defending Trump on the matter, but rather, attacking the DOJ for bringing the charges, and trying to deflect by raising the specter of wrongdoing by President Biden that they seem to have already decided he is guilty of.

“Donald Trump has been charged with very serious crimes, very serious crimes, that are crimes related to highly sensitive national security information and his unwillingness to return them when repeatedly asked, and even affirmative efforts to hide them or pretend that he didn’t have them. These are serious charges. And he has to be accountable under the law just like anybody does,” Kaine said in a call with members of the Virginia news media on Wednesday.

Trump himself has responded to the charges by promising to “go after” Biden if Trump, who is somehow the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, would be able to finagle a second term in the White House.

What he would be able to “go after” Biden for is your guess as good as anybody else’s.

Most likely, it would have to do with “being a Democrat,” which is not a federal crime, not yet, anyway.

Back to Kaine on Trump, who is “presumed innocent, until proven guilty.”

“The mere fact of a charge is not the same thing as a conviction,” Kaine said. “What I hope is, what I think everyone would hope, is that there will be a fair and impartial trial, and all the facts that are that are relevant and necessary will be put before ultimately a jury, and then the jury will render its conclusion about Donald Trump’s culpability, but he has to follow the law. But he is entitled to the presumption of innocence until he’s proven guilty.”