Prosecutors getting Trump's lawyer notes says 'all you need to know' about the case: ex-DOJ official

The fact that the government was able to pierce the barrier of attorney-client privilege and obtain Donald Trump's lawyer's notes tells you "all you need to know" about the strength of the prosecution's case, a former DOJ official said Friday evening.

In a wide-ranging interview on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, former Acting Solicitor General of the United States Neal Katyal suggested that the prosecution's ability to work within the courts to get access to traditionally barred materials says a lot about how the trial will unfold.

Katyal echoed the sentiments of Andrew Weissman, a veteran federal prosecutor who worked on the special counsel investigation into Trump's ties to Russia, who said earlier on the same panel that the "gold" in the indictment "was revealed by having pierced the attorney-client privilege" and that it "relates to the obstruction charges."

"The basic rule is, attorney-client privilege is sacrosanct until and unless you as the client are trying to solicit a crime that your lawyer is participating in," Weissman said. "So that is not something that is privileged and you obviously need to go to a judge, and the judge has to agree that you established that."

Following Weissman's comments, Katyal elaborated even further, saying the key point was the overriding of attorney-client privilege.

"I think Andrew makes the very important point," Katyal said, adding that "what ultimately was litigated and brought to this very respected judge in Washington, D.C., and then ultimately to our nation's second highest court, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit, should attorney-client privilege in the current notes be given over to prosecutors?"

He further said the courts "took the radical step, really unique, of saying that this is so serious, this crime, and Trump was using his attorney to try to commit it," that it warranted the departure.

"They basically pierced attorney-client privilege," he added. "That to me, Lawrence, says that all you need to know about this case."

Katyal further noted that, because "this is such a serious matter, and Trump's actions were so lawless," that attorney-client privilege ultimately had to be pierced.

"We have to pierce attorney-client privilege, the most sacred privilege in Anglo Americana law going back centuries upon centuries. That to me is why I listened to Jack Smith's press conference today, and the most important words he said were to all Americans: read the indictment."

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