'No deal with Jack Smith': Expert explains Sidney Powell still on hook for federal crimes
One of the revelations from Sidney Powell's hearing on Thursday is that her agreement relates to cooperation on all "state" charges – leaving federal charges against those accused of election interference off the table, an expert said.
Andrew Weissmann, the former senior prosecutor under special counsel Robert Mueller, assumed that meant federal prosecutor Jack Smith wasn't willing to work with Powell.
"She has no deal with Jack Smith," said Weissmann on MSNBC Thursday.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
"And how do we know that? Because one of the questions that she was asked at the hearing ...was by the court saying have we recounted all agreements that have led you to plead guilty, and they were only with the state," Weissmann said.
"Why is that significant? If she was going to be saying things and has said things that could implicate her federally, no lawyer — she's a lawyer and she has a lawyer. You don't do that without what's called a global resolution. And so this to me suggests that she is giving information, so far at least, that deals with the Coffee County piece but not the broader piece. Otherwise, she would have done everything she could to try and get that broader deal.
"Apparently Jack Smith was not willing to play ball."
He went to discuss the plea deal she did make in the Fulton County election interference case – which meant she wouldn't get jail time if she worked with prosecutors – in more detail.
"It is really interesting that she has this obligation to testify truthfully," said Weissmann. "She, in that sense, is just like Allen Weisselberg, remember the CFO of the Trump Organization who took a narrow plea, but part of his plea agreement where he gets a very good deal, actually goes to jail? He has to do five months. The judge says if you don't testify truthfully, that deal is off.
"The same thing is true for Ms. Powell. If she now lies and has asked questions broader than Coffee County, she could do more time than probation. That's sort of the plus."
Coffee County was where Republican Trump supporters broke into the county building where electronic voting machines were being held. They then took the information and tampered with it.
Former lead investigator for the Jan. 6 committee Tim Heaphy recalled some of the questions that were asked as part of the interviews with Powell and those like her around the Dec. 18, 2020 meeting in the Oval Office.
"What was the basis on which you would be potentially appointed as special counsel to investigate election fraud?" he asked. "What was the basis by which the president had the authority to seize voting machines? Those were the kinds of extreme measures that were discussed at that meeting. So, her firsthand account of what she told the president, what others told the president, directly bears upon his state of mind, which as we've discussed repeatedly will be a central focus for Jack Smith."
He said that another important point was that after that meeting was when Jan. 6 was launched – Trump went back to the White House residence and tweeted about the planned rally, saying "be there, will be wild."
"We had so much testimony that that was the spark. That was seen as an invitation, people heeded that call as an invitation," he recalled. "The energy around January 6th, the organizing started then, so that meeting is really significant. It sort of leads to the president saying we've got to play our final card, which is public opinion and ramping up energy directed at the joint session.
"So, Powell could have a ton of information about all of that. Who knows if she has provided it or if it will ultimately bear upon the case. This is, again, a pretty limited set of facts to which she's pleaded guilty."
See the full discussion in the clip below or at the link here.
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