Trump's co-conspirators facing two choices -- flip or get caught 'holding the bag': legal expert
Donald Trump was finally indicted in Georgia, and a legal expert said his 18 co-conspirators now face intense pressure to flip and cooperate with investigators.
The twice-impeached president was indicted late Monday for a fourth time on racketeering and other charges related to a wide-ranging effort to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, and legal analyst Andrew Weissmann told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that charges against nearly two dozen allies cannot be undone with a pardon if Trump is re-elected next year.
"One thing that's unusual here compared to the other three cases which is already a remarkable thing that we're talking about, four criminal cases again the former president for crimes he committed allegedly before, during and after his presidency, is that [Fulton County district attorney] Fani Willis actually got arrest warrants for each of these people so she could actually dictate the terms of when everyone needs to surrender," Weissmann said. "She didn't issue a summons. A summons says you need to come, but there's a whole negotiation about when that will be. Here she said you need to turn yourselves in by next Friday, and if you don't, obviously, she has the power to go ahead and enforce the arrest warrant. That obviously won't be necessary."
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"I think the big issue and the reason Georgia may be different in a way that helps her and potentially helps Jack Smith is that if you are anyone who is just indicted other than Donald Trump, your incentive to cooperate just went way up and the reason is, you really can't bank on a pardon, even if Donald Trump wins the presidency," Weissmann added. "In many ways that's almost your worst nightmare because you still will have a case. Donald Trump will have arguments about why the case should be delayed while he is president, but you will be left holding the bag, facing trial and huge legal fees and, obviously, the potential of going to jail if you are convicted, and if Donald Trump doesn't become president, then you are also going to be on trial and facing those same risks, so the ability to not get pardoned, which, you know, might help Donald Trump if he wins doesn't help any of those other 18 people who now have the normal incentives to cooperate when you're facing significant charges."
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