Special counsel Jack Smith and fellow prosecutor Fani Willis will likely be able to use a new piece of evidence from Donald Trump's civil fraud trial, a former prosecutor said Saturday.
Joyce Vance appeared on MSNBC's Yasmin Vossoughian Reports and was asked about what it means that the ex-president "restored himself as trustee on January 15th, 2021." Trump left the White House to go back to the Trump Org, and was replaced by President Joe Biden just days later.
"I am wondering, Joyce, if this at all could help Jack Smith's case, and or Fani Willis's case, that the president knew he had lost this election, and was returning to private life," the host said.
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Vance replied:
"Yes, so it is a very interesting question, for one thing, he was still the president, at the point where he retook control of his company. For any other person in public office, that would be a shocking violation of trust. For Trump it seems almost predictable."
She then added:
"I think, as its evidentiary value goes, this would be a key piece of evidence, had this happened prior to January six. or even sooner after the election. As it is, this is close to, what at that point was the inevitable turnover of government to Joe Biden. I think Trump would simply say that he was preparing for the long flight that he did not believe that he had lost the election, but he knew that he was going to be wrongfully removed from office. So he would have that sort of built-in defense."
"Nonetheless," Vance said, "this is an additional piece of cumulative evidence that shows Trump was aware he had lost."
