DNC official on party’s future: ‘We are going to be not going to jail’

A Democratic official on Wednesday quipped his party will be the one “not going to jail” during a back-and-forth discussion with a Republican strategist that came soon after the arrest of a GOP lawmaker.

Michael Blake, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, made the comments on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom” after GOP strategist Brad Blakeman questioned the identity of the Democratic Party following Tuesday’s primary results.

“Who are you? Who are you going to be?” Blakeman asked. “Are you going to be Socialist Democrats? Which apparently a significant part of your candidate base seems to be pointing to. What are you going to be?”

{mosads}“We are going to be not going to jail,” Blake said in response. “We’re going to be avoiding trial, the way you’ve had Gates and Manafort and now Collins.”

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is currently on trial for alleged financial crimes related to his work for pro-Russia officials in Ukraine. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecution team says Manafort hid millions of dollars from the IRS, and his longtime business associate Richard Gates is the prosecution’s star witness.

As part of a deal with the Justice Department, Gates pleaded guilty earlier this year to reduced charges of conspiring against the U.S. and making a false statement to federal officials.

Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Chris Collins (N.Y.), a top ally of President Trump, was arrested Wednesday and charged with insider trading.