Special prosecutor will be looking for 'who can I flip' using Jan. 6 report evidence: Mueller prosecutor

The "Talking Feds Podcast" opened this week with a discussion about the next steps for the Justice Department as special counsel Jack Smith gets the full report from the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Congress and the attempt to overthrow the election.

Speaking on the panel was former prosecutor Harry Litman, former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann, former impeachment lawyer and ethics czar Norm Eisen and Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin.

Starting the conversation, Weissmann explained that it's exceptionally rare for Congress to come up with more information than the DOJ, but the department has been overwhelmed with activity around the Jan. 6 attackers, the fake electors scandal, Donald Trump's theft of state documents in addition to the department's normal slate of cases.

Eisen explained that he would start by striking out all of the legal analysis and look at only the facts.

"Of which there are many," said Litman.

Eisen went on to say that if he was Smith, he'd start by looking at what evidence they don't yet have.

"We don't know exactly what DOJ has done," Weismann explained. "But my strong suspicion is — and we've heard it from the committee's chair as well — is that there is just a lot more than what Congress has done than DOJ. And it's worth reminding people that that is extremely rare and that's why there has been some antipathy towards the DOJ and there's been this sort of play-out in public of this tension. But I think that's largely behind us."

Weismann said that there are still a lot of leads that the DOJ would likely have to follow up and that there were still questions that Congress may not have asked that the DOJ wants answers to. At the same time, the DOJ is looking for answers to questions that prove something beyond a reasonable doubt and can follow the rules of evidence to ensure something is admissible in court.

"The other thing is I would look at it with an eye very much toward who can I flip," he continued. "Is there evidence, which gives you toe-holds on people who have committed either false statements, or perjury, or obstruction as a way to move people to cooperate?"

He included a note that bringing such charges has "an enormous benefit" for having defense lawyers tell their clients how important it is to be truthful. Whatever information the DOJ has gathered from FBI interviews could conflict with what witnesses have testified to under oath. That puts the witness in the precarious position of having to answer why there are discrepancies or if they were lying to one branch or the other. That could ultimately be motivation to help flip witnesses against higher-level people like Donald Trump.

See the full discussion below or at the link here:

Top Attorneys DISSECT the full Jan 6 Report and how it Spells TROUBLE for Trumpwww.youtube.com