"Don't talk about it anymore" is the advice one defense expert would give to Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, who could face potential criminal charges for pressure she and Donald Trump reportedly put on election workers to refuse vote certification.
Shan Wu, a defense attorney and a former federal prosecutor, appeared on CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta on Saturday, where he was asked about reports out of Michigan which say the former president and McDaniel offered county-level election workers legal services in exchange for refusing the certification.
"The situation that has emerged out of Michigan, that story where now we may get another audiotape of Trump pressuring election workers. How might that figure into all of this?" Acosta asked.
Wu says it's an "extraordinary audiotape."
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"It comes earlier than the Georgia one. It is actually quite distinct from the Georgia one. In the Georgia one, he's really just pressuring that secretary of state to find him these votes. Here, there is arguably a concrete offer or something of value, which is you do this official act, which is don't certify, and we'll take care of you by paying for lawyers. And, you know, sadly, the chair of the RNC weighs in on that, too."
Wu adds that this reported tape "certainly has a different feel to it. And it smells like the offer of a quid pro quo there."
When asked what his advice would be for McDaniel, Wu said, "My advice would be lawyer up and shut up."
"Meaning, don't talk about it anymore," he added. "You know, there is nothing wrong with an offer to pay for someone else's legal service. That's not illegal. The problem here is how they have joined it with this request for them to do something in their official capacity. That's what puts her in that kind of legal jeopardy. Holding aside the incredible optics of the president of the United States and the chairman of the RNC reaching down to the county level to talk to these election officials, which is just, you know, incredible to see, and the amount of pressure that those people must have felt."
