On CNN Friday, legal analyst and former impeachment attorney Norm Eisen said that Donald Trump's allies appear to be botching their attempt to insulate the former president from legal liability for his actions in promoting the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In particular, Eisen argued, the efforts to reach out to witnesses and keep them quiet create new legal problems — even if Trump himself isn't directly behind those discussions.
"Does it make a difference, from a legal perspective, if those communications go through an intermediary?" asked anchor Jim Sciutto. "Not the president reaching out to witnesses, but others on behalf saying, well, the big man is watching, he believes you'll be loyal, et cetera. Does that make a legal difference?"
"It does," said Eisen. However, he added, "It cuts two ways, Jim. On the one hand, it can broaden the conspiracy, it brings another person in. On the other hand, it allows as we have seen this a lot in the history of the prosecution of the mafia in the United States, of organized crime, it allows the crime boss to be one degree removed, but here, it looks like they have been a little sloppy, based on what we saw on Liz Cheney, but on the big screen at the hearing. And a direct representation of Trump."
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This comes after a New York Times report that "more than a dozen" witnesses in the Trump circle have been offered legal representation by Trump's "Save America" PAC.
It also comes after Cassidy Hutchinson, a White House aide under the Trump administration, came forward with damning new details about the former president's actions on the day of January 6, shortly after dumping legal counsel tied to Trump's allies.
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