By Roxanne Donovan, Professor of Psychology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Kennesaw State University. A protest in New York's Washington Square Park days after Donald Trump's election. Muhammed Muheisen/AP “This can’t be happening.” “I feel like throwing up.” “I don’t want to get out of bed in the morning.” “Life is going to get a lot worse for…
Former Trump attorney Tim Parlatore suggested Wednesday evening that his previous client was "bluffing" or "joking" about having a national security-related document in an audio recording that was recently revealed in media reports, but stopped short of calling Trump a liar.
In a wide-ranging interview on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Parlatore continued to defend Trump's actions in connection to classified documents that were purportedly kept without permission, and suggested Trump's defense might focus on forcing the government to define every single classified file that had been seized. Earlier in the day, during an appearance on CNN, host Poppy Harlow grilled Parlatore over his insistence that Trump did nothing illegal when there appears to be a plethora of evidence suggesting otherwise.
Speaking to O'Donnel, Parlatore said the Department of Defense and others associated with the reported letter have "denied that such a letter exists." He then said Trump was telling non-truths about the whole situation.
"So, is it one of those things where he, is you, know bluffing, or joking, saying yeah I've got something to prove..."
O'Donnel then interrupted, and suggested Trump is a liar. Parlatore partially fought him on that.
"People use a word other than bluffing for what Donald Trump says when it is not true," O'Donnel said.
Parlatore then replied, "He is my former client. I won't to use that word."
Parlatore also said he and the Trump team acknowledge that the two-state grand jury panels in D.C. and Florida mean the special counsel is considering bringing charges against Trump.
Guo Wengui, a Chinese billionaire with ties to former President Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon, will face trial for fraud in April 2024, reported NBC News on Wednesday.
"U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres set the trial date for the criminal case during a hearing in downtown Manhattan on Tuesday," reported Chloe Atkins. "The judge also granted Guo’s request for access to a government-provided computer to review evidence."
"Guo was arrested and charged by federal authorities in March on allegations that he defrauded thousands of online followers out of over $1 billion. Guo promised his followers 'outsized financial returns,' but instead, used the money to fund his lavish lifestyle, according to prosecutors, who said the scheme took place from 2018 until March," said the report. "Prosecutors said the U.S. government seized $634 million in alleged fraud proceeds from 21 different bank accounts. Law enforcement seized assets purchased with the profits of the alleged fraud, including a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roads, according to prosecutors."
Bannon was on Guo's yacht when authorities arrested him in 2020 for the We Build The Wall scam, in which he and other associates solicited contributions from Trump supporters to finance a private border wall construction venture, only to dip into it for personal expenses. He has claimed that there was nothing illegal about this scheme.
Trump ultimately pardoned Bannon for that offense, but he was subsequently re-indicted on state charges in New York, on behalf of the people who live in that state whom Bannon allegedly defrauded.
Bannon was also separately convicted of contempt of Congress for stonewalling the House January 6 Committee, and is awaiting sentencing for that.
"Since his March arrest Guo has remained in jail. In hopes of obtaining bail, Cook said in a court filing that Guo would remain in the country if he was released since 'the risk to his life is simply too great for him to leave,' In court documents, Cook claimed that Guo is not a flight risk because his wife of 38 years and daughter live in the U.S.," said the report. "Even though Guo’s two passports and copies of another passport were confiscated by law enforcement officials, Torres said a 'clever defendant with sufficient resources could figure out a way to leave the country without travel documents.'"
Witnesses being called to testify in connection with Donald Trump’s legal troubles could have legal troubles of their own.
That's according to legal analyst Lisa Rubin, who said Wednesday that former Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich’s grand jury testimony in the Mar-a-Lago documents probe typifies witnesses in the Trump probe with potential legal exposure.
“I was sort of scratching my head when we found out that today's witness was Taylor Budowich because he would seem to be one of those people who might have criminal exposure, depending on what he knew and when,” Rubin said Wednesday during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Alex Wagner Tonight.”
“Certainly, the fact that he consulted with Trump advisers and attorneys, who told him that the statement that the former president initially wanted to make was not one that was advisable, would suggest that, in fact, he was told at some point, in some way, ‘hey, look guy, he still has classified documents in his possession.’"
“And the fact that then he went out and made a number of statements to the press, designed to mislead or obfuscate, certainly would suggest Taylor Budowich might have exposure of his own. Obviously, that remains to be seen, but i think some of the witnesses that they might be looking at to bring in could also, like Taylor Budowich, have their own criminal exposure.”
Rubin also noted that Walt Nauta, a trusted Trump aide often described as the former president’s “Diet Coke Valet,” who isn’t believed to have yet testified before a grand jury, as another example of a witness who could have criminal exposure.
“One of the witnesses we haven't heard from yet, Walt Nauta, he’s a person we've talked a lot about as the chief mover of those boxes and someone who helped Trump sort of engineer the way in which he hid documents from the department. He too could be a witness here; he hasn't yet testified before a grand jury to the best of our understanding.”
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