Former President Donald Trump's longtime associate Boris Epshteyn may be the mysterious sixth unindicted co-conspirator, argued MSNBC anchor Ari Melber on Monday.
Epshteyn, an attorney, political strategist and former Sinclair Broadcast Group commentator, has admitted to playing a role in the fake electors plot. Separately he is facing new allegations of sexual misconduct. Melber claimed, Epshteyn climbed his way to the top by schmoozing Trump and indulging his every impulse. That is now the same thing that could land him in legal jeopardy.
"When it comes to the secrets to success in Trumpworld ... for Epshteyn, it's no secret anymore," said Melber, who is also an attorney. "It is political loyalty, perhaps even above political acumen. It was his zealous advocacy on TV and his repeated and demonstrated [a] willingness to go where other Trump Republicans won't, to do what other Trump aides will not. That, clearly, catapulted him to the top of the orbit of the most important Republican in the Republican Party right now. Someone who, for all his legal problems, could still be the nominee. And that's all even with the alleged demerits made by colleagues, lawyers, and others around Mr. Epshteyn."
"So, all of that might've gotten him right here," Melber continued. "It might have got him to be among the company of other lawyers, and maybe he got on the right side of that line. Maybe he found a way name-check Giuliani to do some of the bidding, but not be named the co-conspirator. Or maybe the DOJ ultimately will determine things that put them under more legal scrutiny. But it's the tactics, the loyalty, the advocacy, and the perseverance that these individuals have shown that does tie them together."
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"Mr. Eastman was willing to reverse himself — to lie, if you want to put it blatantly — about what was the law," said Melber. "Mr. Chesebro and Sidney Powell went so far that they had to sometimes deal with people saying, this is, quote, 'wild,' 'unusual,' or as Trump said about Powell's claims, 'crazy.' Mr. Clark and Mr. Eastman ... they've been searched — Mr. Epshteyn's phone was also taken, pursuant to these points — because the DOJ thought those people looked more like co-conspirators."
"The question tonight, and what we've learned about Mr. Epshteyn, is, will he remain so close to the sun that he can no longer provide the kind of defense that Donald Trump so desperately wants and needs, or has he threaded this needle, politically, legally, and otherwise?" Melber added. "All of the former president's people, some of the former president's co-conspirators. Rarely have we seen so much heat around so many people who are someone trying to make the biggest pivot of all. A pivot away from a jail cell and into the Oval Office."
Watch the video below or at the link here.
Ari Melber on Boris Epshteynwww.youtube.com
