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'This is game over': Former FBI top lawyer predicts 'conviction' of Trump after classified doc tape
May 31, 2023
Former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann warned that the new tape recording of Donald Trump bragging that he had classified documents that he wanted to show people, if verified, could be the final straw leading to Trump's conviction.
"If this reporting is true, and I'm trying not to use hyperbole, this is game over," said Weissmann. "There is no way that he will not be charged. One, it is a tape recording. Even though the reporting is there are also witnesses, so there could be a tape recording with witnesses, it involves not just possession of classified information, but the dissemination of classified information. That puts it into a completely different ballpark when you are at the Department of Justice examining the seriousness of the violation and whether to bring charges."
He explained that it also adds another crime, whereas before, it was simply the possession of the documents, refusal to give them over, and obstruction of an investigation. Now, a separate crime would be to disseminate.
"And it differentiates Joe Biden an Mike Pence," he continued. Both men were found to have documents, including some classified information. They responded by immediately handing it over. Trump did not. "So from a political perspective, it is huge because there is no evidence this happened with respect to President Biden or former Vice President Pence. The information is not just classified information. It is one of the most sensitive types of classified information, which is war plans involving a potential attack on Iran. So, from every single aspect of this, if this reporting is accurate and there is this tape recording, there will be an indictment and it is hard to see how given all the evidence that we've been talking about that there will not be a conviction here. I mean, this is a tape recording."
Weissmann went on to list all of the crimes that are involved based on the federal statutes, espionage charges, or a violation of the Espionage Act. Another is that it is a crime to possess national defense information and it is a crime to disseminate it.
"And here it apparently is shared with people who don't have clearance to get this information," he explained. "And again this — this is not like a foot fault. These are war plans given to people who have no clearance to get it. It is hard to imagine — this is their worst nightmare as to what they were thinking would happen with this information which is that Donald Trump was at the very least lax in how he was handling it and it is going to have huge repercussions within the intelligence community in terms of making sure that this is not the only thing that was disseminated."
See the explanation below or at the link here.
'This is game over': Former FBI general counsel predicts 'conviction' of Trump youtu.be
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CNN’s exclusive report that federal prosecutors are in possession of an audio recording in which Donald Trump is heard admitting he kept a classified document describing a potential attack on Iran is a “blockbuster” development in the case against the former president, a national security expert said Wednesday.
Trump is heard on the recording suggesting that, although he wishes to share the information, he’s aware that as a former president he can’t declassify them, multiple sources told the cable news channel, indicating he understood he was in possession of classified material.
CNN has not heard the audio.
Former Defense Department special counsel Ryan Goodman tweeted that the revelation likely raises Trump’s “criminal exposure.”
“Audio recording is a meeting with several people who don't have security clearances,” Goodman tweeted.
“If Trump discussed content of document it is even worse - and raises its own criminal exposure. These individuals are all likely good witnesses, with disincentive to lie given their number.”
Special counsel Jack Smith is investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents, some of which the former president brought to his Florida home in Mar-a-Lago after he left office in January, 2021.
Goodman notes that CNN’s report that prosecutors are "are not only looking at Trump’s actions regarding classified documents recovered from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, but also at what happened at Bedminster" in the summer of 2021.
He writes that the latest revelation is likely to put additional pressure on the Department of Justice to indict the former president, and for a jury to convict him.
“War plans are among the most highly classified documents,” Goodman tweeted.
“Puts pressure on DOJ to indict, and a jury to convict.”
CNN’s report, which states that Trump said he “would like to share the information but he’s aware of limitations on his ability post-presidency to declassify records," in Goodman’s view, “also appears to knock a hole in already very weak (non-defense) defense of declassification.”
Goodman asserted the former president could be facing grave legal jeopardy
“Make no mistake. This is squarely an Espionage Act case. It is not simply an ‘obstruction’ case,” Goodman wrote.
“There is now every reason to expect former President Trump will be charged under 18 USC 793(e) of the Espionage Act.
“The law fits his reported conduct like a hand in glove.”
\u201cBombshell in MAL investigation.\n\nI'll discuss 7pm ET @ErinBurnett @OutFrontCNN \n\n"Audio recording" in which Trump "acknowledges he held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran"\n\nScoop by @kpolantz @PaulaReidCNN @kaitlancollins \nhttps://t.co/jHsjkjXPyZ\u201d— Ryan Goodman (@Ryan Goodman) 1685564528
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'This is a lot of evidence': Mueller prosecutor predicts Trump indictment is 'imminent'
May 31, 2023
"A hefty wall" of evidence has already been built against former President Donald Trump by special counsel Jack Smith - and more keeps coming, a former FBI general counsel said Wednesday.
Andrew Weissmann, who was a senior prosecutor on Robert Mueller's team, discussed new reports about Smith's investigation with Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC.
A Wednesday New York Times report cited Smith interviewing Donald Trump's former cyber-security chief Chris Krebs. He was the aide that called the 2020 election the safest in history as the former president mounted a conspiracy campaign that the election had been stolen from him. Krebs was subsequently fired via tweet.
Weissmann explained that Krebs is going to be a perfect witness for the prosecutors – who are investigating classified documents found at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home and delving into Trump's part in trying to overturn the 2020 election results – because he will have facts and data.
"He's going to talk about, as a Republican appointed by Donald Trump, giving facts saying there was no fraud in the election. And on the other side, there are no facts," said Weissmann. "So, it's just a wonderful example. You can add it to Brad Raffensperger; you can add it to Mike Pence. You can add it to the president seeking to get rid of Jeff Rosen, the acting attorney general, and replace him with Jeff Clark.
"It's all in place, and this is one really good building block. And when you give that litany, you go, this is going to be quite a hefty wall. This is a lot of evidence."
Wallace said that Krebs joins a list of people that worked with Trump and interacted with him directly who have said that he didn't win the 2020 election.
Former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal, also speaking with Wallace, recalled former Attorney General Bill Barr calling Trump's post-election advisers a "clown show." Barr, he said, would be an expert.
"Barr knows a lot about clown shows," explained Katyal. "That's what I think Smith is doing. He's trying to figure out why is, it in the world, that you would get rid of the one guy who actually talks sense. You just played the clip. He doesn't sound like your typical Trump person. He sounds like someone who plays it straight. That's exactly what Trump's problem was."
Wallace asked Weissmann about Smith's two cases – the Jan. 6 effort and the documents scandal – and the division between the two. Weissmann said that both cases will be brought and that the Jan. 6 case would be strong based on the information that they've collected. But he said the Jan. 6 case is much more complicated than the documents case.
Katyal summed it up by saying Trump can't have X, Trump took X, Trump hid X, Trump refused to give X back, Trump is indicted for it. Whereas the fraud for the Jan. 6 case involves a lot of pieces.
"I somewhat disagreed with the attorney general when he said this is the most massive investigation we've ever undertaken," said Weissmann. "I mean, this isn't. It's just, it's big, but it's not terribly complicated. The evidence is — this is the kind of evidence when you're a prosecutor, you're sort of like dying for this because there's so much proof.
"Mar-a-Lago is just a much more discreet set of facts. You still have to tie everything down, you have to interview all of the witnesses. But that is one, if I were a betting man to answer these kinds of questions, I would say Mar-a-Lago is going to go first. And that seems to me, I mean, I hate to use the phrase because Fani Willis has used it, it does seem imminent to me. And I think that Jack Smith will feel the pressure to bring it -- not because he wants to rush it, but I think the American people are entitled to know the answer to whether a candidate for office has committed a state and federal crimes."
After Weissmann spoke, CNN dropped a bombshell report that there was a tape of Donald Trump speaking to biographers for Mark Meadows in which he revealed he took classified documents from the White House that involved a potential attack on Iran.
See the conversation with the legal experts below or at the link here.
Former Mueller prosecutor thinks the document scandal case is more 'imminent' now www.youtube.com
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