Trump will take 'legal offense' on the road to whip up supporters against Jack Smith: reporter
July 28, 2023
Former President Donald Trump, already anticipating a new round of indictments from the federal January 6 investigation, was unexpectedly hit this week with a superseding indictment in the Mar-a-Lago classified document case, alleging he leaned on his body man Walt Nauta and a top Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker, Carlos De Oliveira, to destroy security footage that showed them concealing boxes of documents from federal investigators.
His next move, reported MSNBC correspondent Vaughn Hillyard, is likely to be working to increase the vitriol of his supporters in opposition to the criminal justice system.
"Donald Trump this afternoon suggesting in his words, 'Deranged Jack Smith ought to be the one thrown in jail here,'" Hillyard told anchor Yasmin Vossoughian.
"Donald Trump is looking to take his own legal defense or more, I should say, his legal offense on the road. He's going to be leaving here from Bedminster, New Jersey, in just an hour or two to go to the Lincoln Day dinner."
Trump is then appearing at a rally in Erie, PA on Saturday.
Vossoughian played part of an interview with Trump in which he said, "They went after two fine employees yesterday. Fine people, and I don't think they think the tapes were taken. I don't think we would have had to give it. I'm not sure we would have had to give it. These were security tapes. I doubt, if we wanted to fight that, I doubt we would have had to give it. Regardless, we gave it."
"Two things," said Hillyard. "One, Donald Trump in that interview did not outright deny the allegations that are laid out in the indictment, but number two, he referred to the two 'very fine people,' those were his two staff members named as co-defendants, alleged co-conspirators.
"For Donald Trump, the Save America Leadership PAC supporting his 2024 presidential bid, they have paid money, substantial, tens of thousands of dollars to the law firms representing those co-defendants. There's money on the line here, and for Donald Trump, ensuring they do not testify is important. As of right now, we believe their lawyers are being paid by this PAC supporting Donald Trump, and coming from donations of Americans around the country who are acting in real time, donating to the legal effort."
Watch the video below or at the link here.