Former President Donald Trump is under criminal investigation for his role in the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election, in not one but two cases: Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is investigating the matter, and so is Fulton County, Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis.
But the same case being investigated in two jurisdictions actually presents an unlikely strategy for Trump to defend himself, reported The New York Times on Friday.
"Mr. Trump’s critics believe the concurrent investigations provide assurance that the former president and architects of the scheme to install fake electors in battleground states, including Rudolph W. Giuliani and John C. Eastman, will be held to account," reported Glenn Thrush, Danny Hakim and Adam Goldman. "But they also create complications for two aggressive investigative teams pursuing some of the same witnesses, increasing the possibility of discrepancies in testimony that Mr. Trump’s lawyers could exploit. Ms. Willis and her team have a head start, having begun their work in February 2021, and are expected to seek indictments early next month. That raises the pressure on Mr. Smith, who has pledged to work quickly, to move even faster, according to current and former prosecutors."
"The investigative efforts are by no means the same. Mr. Smith’s purview extends into other areas, most notably the investigation into whether Mr. Trump mishandled classified documents that were found at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left office," noted the report. "The federal investigation into Jan. 6 focuses on several charges, according to two law enforcement officials: wire fraud for emails sent between those pushing the false electors scheme; mail fraud for sending the names of electors to the National Archives and Records Administration; and conspiracy, which covers the coordination effort ... And some of Ms. Willis’s work has been more parochial in nature, including a review of false statements that Trump allies like Mr. Giuliani made at state legislative hearings in December 2020."
All of this comes as Trump has been indicted in New York over his alleged $130,000 hush payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election. That case involves 34 felony counts of falsified business records.
The former president was arraigned earlier this week in the case, to which he pleaded not guilty. He maintains the case is illegitimate and has repeatedly attacked both Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Manuel Merchan, who is overseeing his case.
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