Special counsel Jack Smith is going further than he has before in accusing former President Donald Trump and his attorneys of being "conspiracy theorists" in their arguments against the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, Politico reporter Betsy Woodruff Swan told MSNBC's Ali Velshi on Monday.
This comes as Smith is attempting to stave off a sweeping discovery request in that case that goes far beyond what an ordinary criminal defendant would, asking for huge troves of federal communications in search of evidence that the charges for stealing and hoarding national defense information were fabricated.
"It's not that there was a lot of new material in here. If one has read the Mar-a-Lago indictment, the details are there," said Velshi. "It's not questionable if one looks at that stuff as to why there's an investigation. It's certainly not a trial, but the reasons for the investigation are stated clearly. Why did Jack Smith's team feel the necessity to do this?"
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"Because they're pushing back against an argument that Trump and his defense lawyers and, of course, allied lawyers have been making in public for countless months now that the prosecutors really haven't yet provided a fulsome rebuttal of," Swan replied.
"This document is worth reading for people who are following this from the comforts of their home ... because it's a very concise synopsis of basically how what got here." she continued.
Essentially, "They're accusing Trump and his lawyers of being conspiracy theorists. He's been pushing this notion that the Justice Department, in cahoots with the Biden administration and Jack Smith, says whatever that is, is somehow engaging in wrongful action to damage Trump's political prospects," she explained.
The fundamental purpose of the filing, Swan added, "is to say that's not true. The Justice Department is acting independently. They explicitly say in this filing that no one on Jack Smith's team has talked to the president or any of his family members. Something that is not surprising, but they clearly felt needed to be said. And it's a defense of the work the DOJ is doing and of the independence of the Justice Department from the portions of the executive branch, including the White House, that are closer to the president himself."
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