Jack Smith

Reacting to a report that Donald Trump was sharing highly sensitive government documents with visitors at his Bedminster resort, a former national security adviser to ex-vice president Mike Pence said she was very concerned but not overly surprised.

Appearing on MSNBNC with host Alex Witt, Olivia Troye pointed out that in her dealings with the former president who is now facing possible Espionage Act charges, he was very cavalier with sensitive information.

Reflecting on the new revelations that could bolster special counsel Jack Smith's federal investigation of Trump, Troye stated there were always concerns about the former president.

"I think Trump is seriously a very unstable and unfit leader," she told the MSNBC host. "He was very trivial when it came to matters of national security, and he did not have the grasp to understand the gravity of certain situations; the strategic understanding of what it meant internationally and regionally when some of these decisions were being discussed, and potentially being made."

"I'll say this, my own direct boss, Pence's national security advisor, General [Keith] Kellogg, played a significant role at times when talking Trump out of things when it comes to Iran," she added. "So when this reporting surfaced, I just said to myself, you know, colleagues of mine and I have been talking to each other about this when this classified doc situation surfaced. We said, 'What do you think it is?' And this was actually one of our bets, was it was related to possibly Iran because of his fixation with this whole scenario."

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Reacting to a report from NBC that a grand jury convened by special counsel Jack Smith looking into possible criminal actions committed by Donald Trump will meet this week, former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner issued a warning that the former president could possibly be put on trial after winning re-election which could be very problematic.

Stating that would be uncharted territory, Kirschner raised the specter of a re-elected Trump attempting to get his prosecution shut down.

Speaking with MSNBC host Jen Psaki, Kirschner said the time between a grand jury indictment and a trial can take a year, thus putting a Trump trial uncomfortably close to election day 2024 and beyond.

"I want to ask you something on the timeline as former FBI Director James Comey said, because he indicated that there could be a rush to try to get these indictments out, if indictments are going to be made, in order to finish the trials before the election. Do you think that timeline is possible?" host Psaki asked.

"Yeah, the timing scares me a little bit, Jen," Kirschner admitted. "Because the Speedy Trial Act in federal court says that from the day you are indicted until the day you are supposed to go to trial, 70 days. Do we ever take a federal case to trial in 70 days? The answer is no, never, because the defense asks for continuances and there are motion schedules set."

"The rule of thumb is about a year from the time of indictment to the time of trial, so where does that put us?' he continued. "Summer of 2024, kind of on the cusp of the 2024 election."

"What keeps me up at night is the case is still pending against Donald Trump and hasn't gone to trial; Donald wins the White House and now, what? He orders his own prosecution dismissed. Now courtesy of the Office of Legal Counsel memo we now cannot prosecute a sitting criminal president. That is the stuff of nightmares and fiction novels," he warned.

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Speaking with MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin, legal analyst Melissa Murray claimed Donald Trump's inability to come up with a top-secret government document he is heard discussing with an assortment of people lacking security clearances in a tape the DOJ now possesses has increased the chances of his indictment.

Reacting to the bombshell report that the former president was bragging and "showing off" the sensitive document -- and now it has disappeared -- Murray stated the special counsel Jack Smith can add that to his case that may include violations of the Espionage Act.

"If the material is still missing, how does that impact the case?" the MSNBC host pressed.

"I think it is really important here, if you cannot find this document, if it is still missing, you still make the case that something has not been turned over properly -- it has gone missing" Murray responded.

She then added, "Which might strengthen Jack Smith's case about the retention of documents issue."

"It's not simply that the retention of these documents, their careless handling poses real concerns for national security in terms of those in the field who might be compromised because this is handled so loosely; it also, and again, the losing of this document, it may underscore this," she continued, "meaning our allies cannot trust us with this kind of information going forward."

"It makes it much harder for members of the intelligence community to function, to work with foreign intermediaries to keep us safe, so there is a lot here," she elaborated. "All of it goes to those questions around the nature of this act, which is about preventing national security information from being carelessly handled, compromising national security. More broadly, focusing on the idea that those in control of these documents have to control them safely, they cannot withhold them willfully or knowingly."

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Reacting to the newly revealed audio tape of Donald Trump reportedly bragging about sharing sensitive government documents after he was out of office, a former prosecutor suggested it is just another "smoking gun" that can be added to the "arsenal" of smoking guns the Department of Justice has on the former president.

Appearing on MSNBC's "The Alex Witt Show," former prosecutor Charles E. Colman claimed that there is such a preponderance of evidence against the former president -- much of which has come directly from his public comments -- that is may only be a matter of weeks before he is indicted by special counsel Jack Smith.

"Is this recording a smoking gun? Does it provide the nexus to prove Trump's intent, and that he knew all along the limitations of declassifying documents?" host Witt asked.

"Well, I do think it's a smoking gun," Colman replied. "It's important to understand, Donald Trump has already provided Jack Smith and special counsel's office with a smoking arsenal of other different things along the lines of establishing his guilt in criminal liabilities -- especially with the Mar-a-Lago case."

"This case has been very straightforward from the outset, because of the myriad attempts of federal agencies to try and get documents from Donald Trump, letting him know that he should not have them," he added.

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