Legal expert explains Jack Smith's strategy as Trump election probe expands

Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti told CNN that United States Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith is likely to file new criminal charges against individuals close to ex-President Donald Trump — and perhaps even Trump himself — so that Trump's 2020 election subversion trial can proceed without delay.

CNN's Zachary Cohen and Paula Reid exclusively reported on Tuesday:

Questions asked of two recent witnesses indicate Smith is focusing on how money raised off baseless claims of voter fraud was used to fund attempts to breach voting equipment in several states won by Joe Biden, according to multiple sources familiar with the ongoing investigation. In both interviews, prosecutors have focused their questions on the role of former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell. According to invoices obtained by CNN, Powell's non-profit, Defending the Republic, hired forensics firms that ultimately accessed voting equipment in four swing states won by Biden: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Arizona.

Anchor John Berman noted that Smith's investigation continues, specifically, it seems, into Sidney Powell and others not named Donald Trump. How much do you think that the special counsel will wanna keep this now separate from the indictment against Trump and the trial date that's already set for March in this case?" Berman asked Mariotti.

"There's no question in my mind that he is going to indict that as a separate indictment," Mariotti replied. "In fact, it's pretty apparent at this point that he did what he did. In other words, drew a narrow indictment, had one defendant, Donald Trump, with the intention to have that trial as quickly as possible. Typically, a prosecutor would wanna charge everyone together like Fani Willis did in Georgia. I think Jack Smith deliberately took this approach so that he could get that trial done as soon as possible."