Appearing on CNN just hours after former Donald Trump lawyer Sidney Powell agreed to a plea deal that will compel her to cooperate with prosecutors who have indicted Donald Trump, New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman was asked how the former president was taking the news.
According to the reporter, the answer is not well – and he was blindsided by it.
With Powell agreeing to testify – which could have major consequences for Trump in both his Georgia racketeering case and in the Washington D.C. case where he faces charges of obstructing the transfer of power after his election loss in 2020 – Haberman stated Trump insiders are scrambling to figure out how much damage the former Trump lawyer can inflict.
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Speaking with CNN's Dana Bash, Haberman began, "This caught Trump world by surprise, as it did all of us."
"This was one of the best-kept secrets out of that DA's office in some time," she continued. "They are trying to figure out what it means. There are some people in his world who are telling me they don't think this is that big of deal for him – they think her ability to actually really testify is marginal. They are viewing that this shows that the DA [Fani Willis] overcharged in this case."
"The flip side is the argument that she intentionally charged this way so she could end up getting guilty pleas," she added. "There's nobody who is happy about it. There's concern about the degree to which Powell could offer information, not just about former President Trump, but about Rudy Giuliani, as noted before."
"The former president is still most concerned right now with the New York AG case, which is about his business," she reported. "That's really where the bulk of his mind share is. There's nobody in Trump world who is pretending this is a good development. They are split on what exactly it means."
CNN 10 19 2023 12 33 00youtu.be
