New reporting this week indicates that Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is zeroing in on the possibility of charging Trump's fundraising around "election defense" as wire fraud, on the premise that he and his allies knew his conspiracy theories about the presidential election of 2020 to be false and no such defense fund was ever created, despite millions being raised for it.
On MSNBC Thursday, former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance outlined a key step Smith appears to be taking to build that case.
"The special counsel's investigation into Trump's fundraising in and around January 6th and his claims of a stolen election," said anchor Alex Wagner. "As you see this, the legal implications of Jack Smith broadening that investigation, not just to what Trump did to potentially overthrow an election and subvert democracy, but potentially fundraise off of it — which, I've got to say, let's not lose sight of the fact of how ambitious that is, not just to steal the election, but to potentially raise money off of it. What legal peril does that add to the case here in terms of Donald Trump's exposure?"
"Well, it adds a lot," said Vance. "Wire fraud is sort of a bread-and-butter crime for federal prosecutors, and it carries a maximum 20-year penalty, so it's serious business," said Vance. "It does something really important if Jack Smith is able to make it out, and perhaps even if he doesn't charge it, and that is to help explain motive."
Motive, Vance explained, is "rarely an element" of establishing a crime in these sorts of cases — however, "motive satisfies juries' curiosity. A lot of times, juries want to understand, why did someone do something that just was so clearly criminal that makes no sense? When you learn that there is a financial motive to continue perpetrating the Big Lie, even when it's clear that it still is a lie, that gives a jury higher comfort level."
"The wire fraud charge involves creating a scheme where you intend to defraud people with false information. And you can do it, as you've mentioned, via email, but it can also involve radio or television, lots of great options here for Jack Smith to pursue, because we know Trump was trying to get people to continue to give him money on a variety of different media in order for him to be able to, as he said, pursue a fair outcome in the election, when in fact, he knew he had lost. It's a very compelling place."
Watch the segment below or at this link.
Joyce Vance says Jack Smith is establishing Trump's "motive" for fraudwww.youtube.com
