Trump faces new threat of 'live witness testimony' on Jan 6: former prosecutor

A ruling by Judge Tanya Chutkan on Saturday against Donald Trump's lawyers could set the stage for public hearings on the former president's part in the Jan. 6 insurrection to take place before the November election.

In a column for the Daily Beast, former prosecutor Shan Wu noted that Trump's legal team is still attempting to suppress evidence in the case filed by special counsel Jack Smith and that Chutkan has multiple options.

Noting that the conservative majority Supreme Court has put Judge Chutkan on the spot to nail down what evidence will pass muster with them, Wu explained it can be done through filings by both legal parties or in the open with testimony for the whole world to observe.

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"A public hearing with witnesses would of course be a great service to the American public because it would allow a fuller display of just what actions Trump is alleged to have done to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power," he wrote. "Voters deserve to know this before the election, and but for the actions of the Supreme Court, voters might also have learned whether they would be voting for a twice-convicted felon to be president of the United States."

Noting, "Decisions based on live witness testimony will give appeals courts and the Supreme Court a far sounder basis upon which to make their eventual decisions," he continued, "Jack Smith is simply trying to get his damn case tried — a case that should have been tried long ago.'

"Any prosecutor wants and should press to get his case done as quickly as possible—evidence can be lost, witnesses can be lost and their memories fade. It serves justice to be speedy. But the blame for this loss of speed is squarely with the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court," he added.

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