New audio of Trump talking about Jan. 6 rioters hands Jack Smith fresh ammunition: expert
Reacting to a newly released recording of Donald Trump's interactions with his Secret Service detail as supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, a former federal prosecutor said it could be entered into evidence in Judge Tanya Chutkan's courtroom.
In the recording, released by ABC News' Jonathan Karl and recorded on March 18, 2021, Trump boasts that he would have been "well-received" by the crowd that showed up on the day the 2020 presidential election results were to be certified.
Speaking with CNN's John Berman, former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rogers predicted the new recording would bolster special counsel Jack Smith's case Jan. 6 case that's been filed in Washington, D.C.
"I want to go back to the Jonathan Karl tape of Donald Trump talking about January 6th just a short time after," Berman prompted. "[CNN's] Kate [Bolduan] suggested that this could play in the March federal trial involving Donald Trump. How so? What was important there?"
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"They have charged him, of course, with this vast conspiracy to effectively steal the election," Rogers replied before continuing, "They didn't charge him with the insurrection itself per se, but this is all evidence of that conspiracy, right, because the insurrection of course was the last ditch effort to stop Congress from certifying the vote.
"So the fact that he's recorded saying, basically, I knew that these were my supporters — they were there to do what I wanted them to do to stop the certification, is good evidence of his participation," she continued.
"He really seemed to know what was going on up at the Capitol on January 6th and even suggested that he could have gone up there and calmed them down," Berman agreed. "Now, I don't know that that has any legal importance here, but maybe some political impact."
"Yeah, I mean, the notion that he sat on his hands while watching TV and did absolutely nothing, knowing that they were there to do what he wanted them to do, and didn't do anything to stop the violence going on at the time is a pretty persuasive point about his bad actions," Rodgers replied.
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