'Jack Smith has to really think about what he wants to do' with Trump indictment: expert

During Sunday's episode of MSNBC's Velshi, host Ali Velshi spoke with former U.S. attorney and analyst Barbara McQuade about whether hundreds of other January 6 defendants' charges will impact Donald Trump's consequences.

"Donald Trump has also been charged with obstruction of an official proceeding in Jack Smith's election interference case — the same charge that some 300 other people have faced," Velshi said, asking McQuade, "Given that the Supreme Court is considering this, among other things that the Supreme Court's dealing with — the Jack Smith petition. Is there overlap? Does it matter? Will the Supreme Court's decision on the other January 6 defendants — the 300 of them — have an impact on the Jack Smith case against Donald Trump?"

The former US attorney replied, "I think it could. As you say, two of the four counts involve this particular statute. And I'm actually a little worried about the outcome on this one. The immunity, not at all. This one I am. The fact that the court took it up suggests that it should take on a very narrow reading of the statute, which is amid the Roberts court has done, again and again in the kind of statutes that are used in corruption cases. So Jack Smith has to really think about what he wants to do here. He could dismiss those two counts, and focus on the other two — conspiracy to defraud the United States, and violation of voting rights — that would be a safe way to go."

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McQuade continued, "He could proceed to trial, but there's some risk, that even if the other two counts are used for conviction, that there could be an argument on appeal that these other two counts brought in some tainted evidence that influence the outcome of those. And so he could get a conviction at trial, and a reversal on appeal. Or, he could wait to see how this case plays out, and delay the trial until there is a known answer to those questions, so he can make a more informed decision. None of those options is great. So I think he's going to have to make a decision going forward about how he games out what the Supreme Court is likely to do there."

Watch below:

'A little worried': Analyst explains why 'Jack Smith has to really think about what he wants to do'youtu.be