Jack Smith

New Trump revelations will make it like 'shooting fish in a barrel' for prosecutors: legal expert

According to former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, Donald Trump's conflicting statements about how he went about declassifying sensitive government documents -- along with comments made about possibly sharing them -- will make it easy for DOJ attorneys to rip his testimony apart if he is indicted by special counsel Jack Smith.

Appearing on "The Saturday Show' with host Jonathan Capehart, Kirshner's eyes lit up when recounting how the former president is handing prosecutors all they need.

"How significant is it that there is an audio recording of what we're talking about?" host Capehart pressed.

"It's huge, Jonathan," Kirscher fired back. "I've tried wiretap cases in the federal courthouse three blocks away, RICO cases, in fact. When you can present to the jury the crime being committed, or being discussed by the very person on trial who's sitting across the courtroom from the jury, it's evidentiary gold."

"And most importantly, when you can take two audio recordings, or two videos, one with Donald Trump saying 'I declassified everything with my mind' or 'it was automatically declassified when I took it with me from the White House,' and you can immediately thereafter play an audio recording of him six months after leaving the presidency saying, 'I'd like to show this to you, but it's classified,' jurors get the point."

"It might feel good that Donald Trump in the moment, saying these things on faux news networks or in town halls but, boy, once prosecutors can surgically present this stuff to a jury, it's going to be like shooting fish in a barrel," he added.

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Trump's lawyers will 'cut their losses' when indictments come: Guardian reporter

Appearing on MSNBC on Saturday morning, Guardian reporter Hugo Lowell predicted a massive reshuffling within Donald Trump's legal team if and when special counsel Jack Smith secures an indictment of the former president.

Speaking with host Katie Phang and co-panelist Joyce Vance, Lowell claimed the chaos among Trump's team of lawyers — who have reportedly been bickering and fighting with each other over strategy — has settled down for now but that can be expected to change if Smith files charges.

With Vance speculating when indictments may come down, host Phang asked Lowell about his reporting on the Trump lawyer turmoil.

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Trump insiders 'unnerved' and angry as the DOJ pores over lawyer's notes about Mar-a-Lago documents: NYT

Donald Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran's habit of dictating his notes into his phone has aides to the former president furious and "unnerved" now that the Department of Justice has the phone and has transcribed his musings, reports the New York Times.

On Saturday the Times reported that while Corcoran was working with the former president while searching for sensitive documents held at Mar-a-Lago, he used his phone to detail the conversations and the advice he was giving the president -- and what he said could be central to an indictment of the former president.

As the report notes, in March Federal Judge Beryl A. Howell "pierced the privilege that would have normally protected Mr. Corcoran’s musings about his interactions with Mr. Trump. Those protections were set aside under what is known as the crime-fraud exception, a provision that allows prosecutors to work around attorney-client privilege if they have reason to believe that legal advice or legal services were used in furthering a crime."

RELATED: 'Too dumb to even play dumb': Legal expert says Trump is in deep trouble even if Iran document is lost

As part of the judge's order, Corcoran turned over his phone which contained a "voice memo Mr. Corcoran made last year — during a long car drive for a family event the morning after" he met with Trump over the disputed documents that are at the center of one of special counsel Jack Smith's investigations.

What Corcoran said has Trump insiders fearing the worst.

According to the Times, "Mr. Corcoran’s notes, which have not been previously described in such detail, will likely play a central role as Mr. Smith and his team move toward concluding their investigation and turn to the question of whether to bring charges against Mr. Trump. They could also show up as evidence in a courtroom if a criminal case is ultimately filed and goes to trial," with the report adding, "The level of detail in the recording is said to have angered and unnerved close aides to Mr. Trump who are worried they contain not only direct quotes from sensitive conversations."

The report adds, "...according to a description of the recorded notes, Mr. Trump asked Mr. Corcoran if he had to comply with the subpoena. Mr. Corcoran told him that he did. That exchange could be useful to prosecutors as they collect evidence on whether Mr. Trump sought to obstruct the subpoena process and interfere with the government’s broader efforts to retrieve all of the sensitive records that he took with him from the White House."

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'Sharply incriminating': ex-federal prosecutor explains how Jack Smith has upper hand in docs probe

Donald Trump's criminal intent in the classified documents investigation won't be difficult to prove if Jack Smith does have a copy of the audio in which the former president admits to possessing military plans and discussing them with others.

If special counsel Smith has the audio, which purportedly includes an admission that he knew he couldn't just instantly declassify documents and was first reported by CNN, that could mean a lot, according to former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner. Kirschner.

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Here’s why the Trump tape puts the former president in serious legal jeopardy: report

The blockbuster CNN report earlier this week that federal prosecutors are in possession of an audio recording of Donald Trump in which he admits to keeping a classified document describing a potential attack on Iran, could have major legal implications for the former president, The Bulwark reports.

According to the CNN report, Trump is heard on the recording suggesting that, although he wishes to share the information, he’s aware that as a former president he can’t declassify them, multiple sources told the cable news channel, indicating he understood he was in possession of classified material.

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'Too dumb to even play dumb': Legal expert says Trump is in deep trouble even if Iran document is lost

New reporting suggests that lawyers for former President Donald Trump are unable to locate the highly classified document detailing an attack plan against Iran that he was caught on tape telling people at his Bedminster club he possessed.

On MSNBC Friday, national security analyst Michael Schmidt said this could make the case harder to charge — but former Solicitor General Neal Katyal believes just the opposite.

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Trump floats new conspiracy theory about the Democrats' campaign for the White House

In a post to Truth Social this Friday, former President Donald Trump posted a new conspiracy theory, claiming that the nation's top law enforcement agencies are controlling the Democrats' campaign for the White House in 2024.

"THE DOJ & FBI ARE RUNNING THE DEMOCRATS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN," Trump wrote in his usual all-caps style. "THIS IS ILLEGAL ELECTION INTERFERENCE!"

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Not charging Pence is ‘prelude to DOJ seeking charges against Trump’: legal expert

Mike Pence will not be charged for being in possession of classified documents, found in his Indiana home, the U.S. Dept. of Justice reportedly has told the former Trump vice president in a letter. Some legal experts believe DOJ is wrapping up its investigations into classified documents found in Pence’s and President Joe Biden’s homes to clear the decks for a decision to seek charges against ex-president Donald Trump over his unlawful removal of hundreds of classified documents from the White House, and subsequent refusal to return them even after being served with a subpoena.

“The decision comes ahead of Pence’s planned announcement next week that he will run for president in 2024,” CNN reports, noting it has obtained and verified a copy of the DOJ letter. “It allows Pence to offer an additional contrast between himself and former President Donald Trump, his political rival who’s under serious investigation by the Justice Department and others.”

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'I'm at least as innocent as he is': Trump reacts to Pence avoiding classified document charges

Donald Trump congratulated his former Vice President Mike Pence for avoiding charges in his classified document case Friday – then whined that the ongoing investigation into his case is a "Witch hunt."

"Just announced that they are not going to bring charges against Mike Pence on the document hoax," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

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CNN boss infuriated everyone by 'disgracing the network on its own airwaves': report

A new report from The Atlantic's Tim Alberta documents how CNN boss Chris Licht completely ruined any shot he had at rehabilitating his network in the wake of its widely criticized town hall with former President Donald Trump.

Alberta starts off by documenting how Licht initially planned to use the town hall as an olive branch to American conservatives to show that his network was willing to give the former president a venue where he could get a fair hearing.

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Jim Jordan tells DOJ to turn over details of Jack Smith's Trump investigation

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is apparently trying to give Donald Trump a peek inside the special counsel investigation.

The House Judiciary Committee chairman sent a letter Thursday to attorney general Merrick Garland seeking details about the FBI's involvement in special counsel Jack Smith's sprawling investigations of the former president, including his mishandling of classified documents found at his private residence at Mar-a-Lago, reported The Federalist.

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'They know he's busted': Morning Joe hearing Trump pals 'really concerned' about Mar-a-Lago case

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said Donald Trump and his inner circle are "really concerned" about the evidence turned up by special counsel Jack Smith in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

The special counsel has a recording of Trump from July 2021 discussing the classified documents he took home from the White House, and the "Morning Joe" host said the former president's denials are not very persuasive.

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