'Gold for prosecutors': Expert says Mar-a-Lago witness is just what Jack Smith needs
The Mar-a-Lago witness who came forward publicly to discuss the role he played in former President Donald Trump's classified documents case is a huge asset to special counsel Jack Smith, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig explained on CNN Monday.
The witness, an employee of Trump's country club now revealed to be Brian Butler, opened up to CNN's Kaitlan Collins Monday, explaining how he helped Trump's body man Walt Nauta load boxes onto the former president's plane.
"How important is this news?" anchor Jake Tapper asked Honig. "And was there any significant in what you heard him say just then?"
"This type of witness is gold for prosecutors, and there's a few reasons for that," said Honig. "First of all, this person has insider access ... he's there when boxes are being loaded onto the plane."
Honig then explained Butler resolves a key challenge for prosecutors: explaining exactly where, when, why and by whom the documents were moved.
The former prosecutor also highlighted Butler's apparent lack of bias.
"He doesn't seem to have any reason to have an ax to grind with Donald Trump...he's a longtime, two-decades-long employee of Donald Trump and the Trump Organization," Honig said. "He does not appear to be angry or resentful towards Donald Trump."
Finally, Honig pointed to the evidence backing up the narrative presented by Butler.
"He appears to be well-corroborated by documents by certain text chains that are referenced in the indictment and by testimony of some of the defendants themselves, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira," said Honig. "So this is really the kind of witness that you want to build around as a prosecutor."
Tapper asked Honig to estimate the worth of Butler's testimony, specifically when it came to the handling of the boxes at the heart of Smith's Florida federal case.
"He was not told that they were valuable, had important state secrets in them, and he just treated them like anything else," Tapper said. "And they were stored in common areas and not stored with any potential security."
Honig agreed, but said that was only part of the value Butler's testimony could provide.
"I think it's also very damning in particular to Walt Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira, who are both defendants in this case, because they're directing him what to do with the boxes," Honig said.
Then Honig issued a reminder.
"Trump and the other defendants were trying to figure out 'What do we have on the surveillance video? Can we delete it?'" Honig said. "He overhears and he's part of conversations about that as well.
"He's a multifaceted witness for prosecutors."
Watch the video below or at the link here.
Leave a Comment
Related Post