Trump will be the 'star witness at his own trial': Watergate prosecutor

Former President Donald Trump will be his own "star witness" at his federal Espionage Act trial, argued former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman on MSNBC's "The Beat" Tuesday.

"We have the words in [special counsel] Jack Smith's transcript two weeks ago," said host Ari Melber. "The tapes hit different. I show that in the press, I showed the Watergate example, which you know a heck of a lot more about than most people. Why is a tape different in general and for a jury?"

"Well, in general, it's basically the defendant's own words incriminating himself," said Akerman, who has frequently offered commentary for Trump's legal woes. "In this instance, Donald Trump is going to be the star witness at his own trial, and the defense can't do anything about it. They can't cross-examine that tape. So that makes a big difference."

"Do you feel like sometimes defense lawyers are able, with a transcript, to almost parse it?" asked Melber. "They say, well, this didn't mean that and that was that, and you had to be there. And when you hear the audio — I mean, here's my observation. The defendant has rights. The defendant's legally presumed innocent. My observation is if you're a jury, he does not sound like someone who is concerned about protecting national security information, nor someone who is genuinely under the impression that he's holding already declassified material."

"Right, no question about it," agreed Akerman. "I mean, the tone of that whole conversation is completely different. It makes you think when he says this is off the record, you know, what kind of person deals with classified information off the record? Oh, by the way, Vladimir, this is off the record, but here's what I took with me when I left the White House. I mean, this is not what somebody does. But more importantly ... what else did he do off the record? I mean, that's the real question."

"But what's most important about this tape — I mean, you pointed out the precise elements of the crime that it proves, and it does that ... but it's more than that," Akerman added. "What's really significant here is that it also gives Jack Smith motive. Motive is not an element of any of those crimes, but it does shade how the jury views the crime."

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