After a bombshell report that a Donald Trump staffer questioned a Mar-a-Lago IT worker about the functioning of security cameras at the club – specifically how long footage stayed available – former federal prosecutor Shan Wu theorized that the only reason they would care is if they were worried about something being seen.
Speaking to CNN's John King on Wednesday, Wu first addressed recent New York Times reports that special counsel Jack Smith is interviewing Trump's former cyber-security chief Chris Krebs. He was the aide that called the 2020 election the safest in history as the former president mounted a conspiracy campaign that the election had been stolen from him. Krebs was subsequently fired via tweet.
Wu said that the reasons Smith, who is investigating classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago and Trump's part in attempting to overturn the 2020 election, might be looking at Krebs, included trying to establish Trump's state of mind, and looking for a link to some of the financial aspects of Jan. 6.
"Money and power always entwine," Wu said. "Perhaps the next best thing is to make money off the fraud that you're pushing out there. So, I think they are looking at both of those. And certainly, Krebs could be — the firing offense — would be valuable not only to the efforts by Trump to stay in power but also to the continued fundraising that we know is being looked at carefully too."
But it was the Mar-a-Lago piece of the story that could be the most damaging. The Washington Post reported Tuesday on the incident with the security cameras at the former president's country club.
"The employee allegedly had a conversation with an IT worker at the site about how the security cameras worked and how long images remained stored in the system," the Post reported, citing a person familiar with the investigation.
Reports earlier this month indicated Smith might be looking for evidence that Trump tampered with the security cameras, CNN reported.
"You're not really concerned about retention policies unless where there's documents, video or audio you want to go away," Wu explained. "That's what that suggests. Why would you ask about that if you're not worried about the surveillance being there?"
The calendar the Post cited showed the conversation was in mid-July 2022, more than a month after the FBI visited Mar-a-Lago to collect some documents on June 2. It was a few weeks later, on Aug. 8, 2022, that the FBI executed a search warrant.
A report from the week following the 2022 search said the feds obtained surveillance videos that showed aides moving boxes around in the days before the search.
See the full conversation with Wu below or at the link here.
Why would you ask about surveillance if you weren't worried: ex-prosecutor on Mar-a-lago tapesyoutu.be
