New indictment forces Judge Cannon to let Trump tape into evidence
The new charges against Donald Trump will likely force federal judge Aileen Cannon to allow a damning audio recording into the evidence against the former president, a legal expert told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
Special counsel Jack Smith secured a superseding indictment charging Trump with three new counts related to his alleged efforts to destroy evidence in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, and the new charges make note of his recorded interview with a writer and publisher, for which two aides were present, discussing a "highly confidential" military record that he admitted he wasn't authorized to share.
"It seems pretty clear there was a venue issue that seemed to hang up the government because this is a tape recording of something that happened in Bedminster [New Jersey]," said former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann. "If you look at the new charges that were unveiled [Thursday], clearly, the government has been able to see that this document made its way, not just to Bedminster, but back to Mar-a-Lago, so that gives them venue. The Constitution requires that you bring charges where the crime occurred. Here, they're alleging that that document was, at some point, retained by the president, the former president, at Mar-a-Lago."
"With that piece, they were able to bring this as part of the existing case, and the tape recording that you played is now direct evidence," Weissmann added. "There's no question that Judge Cannon has to let the tape recording into evidence now in this case."
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