'Overwhelming and clear-cut' evidence will push DOJ to 'very quickly' indict Trump: Ex-Mueller prosecutor

A new recording that shows Donald Trump discussing a classified document could be the final nail that results in criminal charges, according to one legal expert, and there could be tremendous pressure to prosecute him before the 2024 election.

Special counsel Jack Smith's team has an audio recording of the former president from July 2021 discussing a classified document that outlined a possible attack on Iran that he took from the White House, and he showed awareness that he no longer had the authority to declassify it, and MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann said the case against Trump was "overwhelming."

"It's always fraught to give predictions, but I would think that the Department of Justice and Jack Smith are going to be very concerned about getting information into the hands of the public and trying to have a trial before there is an election," said Weissman, a former federal prosecutor who worked under special counsel Robert Mueller. "Not for the sake of speed but for the sake of the electorate knowing what the proof is, so they can factor that in in deciding who to vote for. That's a long way of saying that I think they'll feel a lot of internal pressure to act very quickly."

READ MORE: New Trump evidence is almost as good as 'a guilty plea': Former House GOP Intel Chair

"There is, I think from a procedural perspective, we've heard that Donald Trump has sent this letter to the attorney general, so he can appeal to the attorney general, who has the power to sort of do a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on any potential indictment," Weissman continued. "I find it highly unlikely that the attorney general would reject a potential indictment proposal from Jack Smith. The only question there is how long that appeal process would in the department take. Then I actually -- if I guess, I'd say it'll probably be the next couple weeks that you will see some sort of charge on Mar-a-Lago. I think Jan. 6 may take a little longer because it is a much more complicated case."

"I agree with you Mar-a-Lago, at this point, the proof seems overwhelming and relatively clear cut," he added.

Watch the video below or at this link.

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