Trump’s lawyers may be trying to go over Jack Smith’s head to thwart indictment: legal expert
A prominent legal expert on Thursday suggested that Donald Trump's lawyers are likely to try to go over Jack Smith’s head in a meeting with the special counsel’s superiors aimed at thwarting a potential third indictment against the former president.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney and Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Deadline White House with Nicole Wallace” said he believed Trump’s lawyers are likely seeking a meeting with Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Marshall Miller.
Weissmann’s suggestion that Trump’s lawyers are seeking a meeting with Smith’s superiors at the Justice Department followed his assertion that the Washington D.C. grand jury hearing evidence in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election on Thursday either voted on a public indictment, a sealed indictment, or didn’t hold a vote.
Wallace asked Weissmann what would likely follow the grand jury not holding such a vote.
“Based on the fact that defense lawyers spoke to Jack Smith's office assuming that didn't lead to any headway, they may ask to speak to main justice,” Weissmann said.
“The lawyers at main justice have a limited role under the Special Counsel rules and that is to determine whether what Jack Smith is doing is such an abuse of discretion that they will say ‘no, you cannot go forward with all of it, or some part of it.’
“As we know from last time, that also did not avail the defense team, but I would expect them to try to meet with Marshall Miller, who is the most senior career person at the department who according to my reports was the person they met with last time, so I think that's the next thing we might see. That will be in very short order, that is not a long delay. I would imagine that there would be a very short leash on the amount of time that the defendant is given to make that final appeal.”
Weissmann said that although the grand jury isn’t scheduled to meet again until Tuesday, those on indictment watch probably should keep their phones near between now and then.
“The grand jury sits on Tuesdays and Thursdays so they could return on Tuesday,” Weissmann said, noting that “it is also possible, we used to do this, that you ask the grand jury to come in on a day that they are not normally scheduled if there's some very good reason for it. “
“You see if the grand jurors are willing to meet on a day that they're not normally required to come in, just to throw another sort of option out there but that that is something that from time to time does happen.”
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