Now that the contents of special counsel Jack Smith's 37-count indictment of Donald Trump have been unsealed, some close advisers to the former president are expressing dismay and shock at the details with one saying it all could have been avoided if the former president had only complied with government requests.
According to a report from the Washington Post, confidence in the Trump defense has waned after the evidence presented in the indictment became public knowledge.
The Post is reporting, "The indictment unsealed Friday rattled some of his advisers, who were not aware of the granular evidence obtained by the Justice Department, according to people familiar with the matter," before adding, "Two people said the evidence was more damning than they expected, and could have been avoided if Trump would have just listened to his lawyers and advisers."
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Noting the departure of two key Trump lawyers within 24 hours of the indictment announcement, which has left the Trump legal team scrambling before the Tuesday Florida hearing, the Post reports the recovery process is being "driven by unforced errors and stubbornness."
According to one adviser to the former president, "The story of this will be we didn’t have to get to this place. None of this really had to happen. It was all so, so dumb.”
Republican pollster Whit Ayres admitted that the Smith case is profoundly more concerning than the indictment brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, telling the Post: "If you were trying to design a lawsuit that was easy for Republicans to dismiss as a partisan witch hunt, you would produce exactly the lawsuit that Alvin Bragg brought. Jack Smith is not a jokester.”
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