Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Donnie is now at 47% approval with Republican voters. He was previously at 53%.

In 2016, he had 96% support in the Republican party. So, Donnie has lost nearly half of his support in the GOP.   


Trump drops below 50 per cent among GOP voters in new CNN poll following second indictment

Donald Trump's grasp over the GOP primary base appears to be slipping after the news of his second criminal indictment broke this month.

Mr Trump earned the support of 47 per cent of likely GOP primary voters in the poll, down from 53 per cent in the same survey taken a month earlier. His drop in support comes as roughly seven in 10 Americans say that politics played a role in his second prosecution, according to CNN.

And possibly most worryingly for him, nearly a quarter of GOP voters now say that they would not support him under any circumstances. His overall favourability is dropping among right-leaning voters too, now down to 67 per cent. Just over half, 55 per cent, of all Americans believe that Mr Trump acted illegally in regards to his retention of documents including classified materials from the White House, further outlining the steep climb he will face with independent voters this time around.

Roughly six in 10 Americans say that the indictment was, all things considered, a good idea. And nearly one-third of Republicans who say they support Mr DeSantis or one of Mr Trump’s other rivals agree that the former president likely committed a crime.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-poll-indictments-cnn-june-b2361825.html



Trump’s legal team handed over tapes to Jack Smith as MAGA loyalists turn on each other

Donald Trump's legal team handed over tapes of the former president’s interviews to special counsel Jack Smith as part of the investigation into the classified documents he held onto after leaving office, it has emerged.

In a court filing on Wednesday, federal prosecutors began turning over evidence to Mr Trump’s legal team as the case against him heads to trial. The filing reveals that investigators collected recordings of the former president giving multiple interviews. Sources told CNN those recordings were initially given to federal prosecutors by Mr Trump’s own team.

The revelation comes as the former president urged Congress on Thursday to investigate the multiple investigations into him.

“Congress will hopefully now look at the ever continuing Witch Hunts and ELECTION INTERFERENCE against me on perfectly legal Boxes,” he wrote on Truth Social after the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from former special counsel John Durham, who investigated the FBI’s probe into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Meanwhile, there appears to be trouble in MAGA-world as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert traded blows on the House floor and former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis mocked Kari Lake for “couch-surfing” at Mar-a-Lago.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-classified-documents-latest-news-today-b2362775.html



Trump Melts Down as DOJ Turns Over Evidence It Plans to Use Against Him

The former president is pleading for Congress to intervene now that he's learned what the government has on him



DONALD TRUMP FIRED off a series of desperate pleas on Truth Social, including multiple appeals to Congress to bail him out, hours after news broke that the Justice Department had turned over the first batch of evidence it plans to use against him. The former president was indicted earlier this month on charges related to his handling of classified material after leaving the White House.

“CONGRESS, PLEASE INVESTIGATE THE POLITICAL WITCH HUNTS AGAINST ME CURRENTLY BEING BROUGHT BY THE CORRUPT DOJ AND FBI, WHO ARE TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL,” Trump wrote Thursday morning.

The former president also dusted off the idea that the DOJ framed him by planting the classified material at Mar-a-Lago — despite the fact that he’s claimed repeatedly that he somehow declassified the material before bringing it to Florida himself. “Congress will hopefully now look at the ever continuing Witch Hunts and ELECTION INTERFERENCE against me on perfectly legal Boxes, where I have no doubt that information is being secretly ‘planted’ by the scoundrels in charge,” he wrote in another post before griping about his other legal woes.

Trump’s indictment is damning, with the DOJ alleging that the former president knowingly took classified documents to Mar-a-Lago, stored them in unsecure locations, and then conspired to lie to authorities about what he was hoarding while suggesting the material should be destroyed. The indictment also outlines a recording it obtained featuring Trump bragging about having a “secret” plan against Iran

The evidence the DOJ turned over on Wednesday includes more recordings of the former president, described as “interviews” recorded with his consent. It’s unclear what is on the additional tapes. The evidence also includes grand-jury witness testimony — which means Trump now knows who testified against him and what they said — as well as material obtained through subpoenas.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-melts-down-doj-mar-a-lago-evidence-1234776019/



Trump team handed over tapes of interviews to special counsel, sources say

CNN — Donald Trump’s legal team turned over multiple recordings of the former president’s interviews with members of the media and book authors to federal prosecutors during their investigation, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Special counsel Jack Smith disclosed in a court filing Wednesday that investigators had more tapes of interviews with Trump conducted by non-government entities and recorded with his consent but did not say what the tapes said or how they were obtained.

The new reporting provides more insight into how the special counsel conducted its investigation and what kinds of evidence it has. Prosecutors are required to turn over all of the evidence they have collected to Trump’s defense team, even if it is not going to be used in the case at trial.

The special counsel previously revealed it obtained audio of an interview Trump gave at Bedminster for Mark Meadows’ memoir in which the special counsel says Trump shared classified information with visitors and aides.

Among the materials prosecutors have obtained during the investigation are recordings Trump’s legal team handed over earlier this year, in response to an early 2023 subpoena requesting all information related to General Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

According to two sources, the additional recordings, some made with authors sympathetic to the former president, include mentions of Milley but do not show Trump discussing any classified material.

Sources familiar with the investigation told CNN the Trump team does not believe the additional recordings are as incriminating as the recording referenced in the indictment unsealed this month. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

That recording, of a meeting at his Bedminster club in July 2021, captures a few-minute segment where the Trump discusses a classified document and suggests he was showing it to others in the room. That recording, first reported by CNN, is described in the 37-count indictment, and prosecutors included quotes from the transcript such as, “This is secret information. Look, look at this … See as president I could have declassified it.”

Prosecutors also obtained multiple recordings from at least one other source, including a version of the Bedminster tape.

During the summer of 2021, sources said multiple people were making recordings of Trump as he held conversations with journalists and biographers.

After the special counsel’s team had secured the Bedminster meeting audio, which is set to play a significant role in the case against Trump, prosecutors specifically demanded any additional audio or video recordings that captured discussions Trump had about certain topics, such as Milley and American military capabilities.

The recordings turned over by Trump were in response to that subpoena.

Trump’s team and the special counsel’s office declined to comment.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/22/politics/trump-tapes-special-counsel-evidence/index.html

[Rick Plant]

This is the 'single most important' piece of evidence in Trump indictment, according to CNN legal analyst
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/06/22/trump-recordings-jack-smith-sot-reid-honig-lead-vpx.cnn


Georgia court summons new grand jury pool that could hear case against Trump

Grand jury summons have gone out in Georgia in connection with a case against Donald Trump, according to news reports.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will show the evidence in her 2020 election investigation to a grand jury "in the coming months," according to a report from 11 Alive.

"If you live in Fulton and you’ve recently received a jury summons, there’s a chance you could be picked to hear the case against former President Donald Trump and his allies," according to the report. "Willis' findings will be presented to jurors during the upcoming court term that runs from July 11 to Sept. 1. They will decide who — if anyone — will be indicted for criminally interfering in the state's 2020 presidential election."

Fulton County Superior and State Court Jury Manager Amy von Kelsch reportedly confirmed to 11Alive that "jury summonses for that term were sent. It's unclear exactly how many were sent out."

“I think they are going to try and get a bigger pool," said Danny Porter a former Gwinnett County District Attorney. I think they are going to need more as people figure out that this might be the Trump grand jury and all that may entail.”

Read More Here: https://www.11alive.com/article/news/special-reports/ga-trump-investigation/fulton-county-jury-summons-donald-trump/85-feb1c205-92d5-4be3-abc5-925b8be87311



'Display of strength': ex-federal prosecutor says Jack Smith is showing Trump how good his case is

Jack Smith's most recent filing the criminal case against Trump is a "surprising" one and it demonstrates that the prosecutor is attempting to show the former president exactly what he's in for at trial, according to a former federal prosecutor.

Former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance, who spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor, appeared Thursday evening on "The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle," where Vance was asked what stands out to her about Smith's most recent filing. The filing provided evidence Trump would be faced with at Trial, including interviews with his associates.

Vance called the brief "a surprising filing."

"Prosecutors usually wait until they receive a request for discovery from defendants before they begin to turn over information. So it looks to me like a display of strength by Smith," she said. "He wants Trump to see precisely how good the case against him is."

Vance further noted that prosecutors "aren't required to turn over witnesses statements until after they actually have testified at trial."

"The practice is, as a practical matter, to turn those statements over a little bit and in advance of the trial, maybe a couple of weeks to get the defendant time to prepare," she added. "But this is Smith's move out at the gates: here are all of my statements and witnesses that will testify to at trial. It is really designed to show defense how good his case is."

When asked why Smith wouldn't just surprise Trump at trial, Vance explained that you can't do that in our system.

"In the federal system, there is no such thing as trial by surprise. Prosecutors are obligated to turn over the bulk of their evidence. There is a legitimate question of timing. What is unusual here that they front loaded the turnover. There is a lot to be said for putting on displays of strength of your case to a defendant, and to a defendant like Trump who never faced accountability before, this is going to lead to a real moment with his lawyers, where they will have to level with him about what he is facing, if he chooses to go ahead."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Morning Joe delivers bad news to Trump should the Florida jury find him guilty on just one charge

On Friday morning, MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Joe Scarborough warned Donald Trump he is taking a massive gamble if he thinks a Florida jury will not find him guilty of even one of the 37 charges he is facing from the Department of Justice -- particularly those involving the Espionage Act.

Referencing conservative attorney -- and Trump defender -- Jonathan Turley admitting special counsel Jack Smith appears to have an exceedingly strong case related to stolen government documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago, the MSNBC host cautioned the former president that he could find himself in prison for the rest of his life.

Following a discussion with "Morning Joe" regular John Heilemann that Trump's legal problems will wear him down as he tries to run for re-election, Scarborough stated the former president would be smarter to work out a plea deal to avoid jail time.

"You look at the dozens of indictments he already has against him, who knows how many more dozens of indictments will be coming in the coming months," the MSNBC host suggested.

"One, if one of them stuck, if just one of them stick, as Turley said, that's a life sentence for Donald Trump," he added. "And that's what he's carrying around every day as well -- that's what he is carrying."

"I mean, do you think -- I mean, maybe there will be jury nullification, who knows?" he elaborated. "Will there be jury nullification for let's say the one count of stealing nuclear secrets? Just one count is, in effect, a life sentence for him."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

US special counsel seeks delay to start of Trump documents trial until December

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday asked a federal judge to delay the start of former President Donald Trump's trial on charges of willful retention of classified government records and obstruction of justice until Dec. 11, a court filing showed.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon set an initial trial date of Aug. 14.

But Smith, in the filing, said the Aug. 14 date "would deny counsel for the defendant or the attorney for the Government the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation."

Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president for the 2024 election, was arraigned in federal court in Miami last week, during which he pleaded not guilty to charges he unlawfully kept national security documents when he left office and lied to officials who sought to recover them.

The case will need to proceed under a strict and meticulous set of rules set forth in a law known as the Classified Information Procedures Act, which aims to protect classified evidence and manage how such records can be disclosed.

In the filing, Smith said the start of the trial should be delayed so Trump's lawyers have time to get security clearances to review classified documents.

Smith laid out a schedule in the lead up to the proposed Dec. 11 start of jury selection, including a Sept. 5 deadline for all defense discovery requests.

He said Trump's lawyers do not oppose scrapping the Aug. 14 trial start date but he anticipates they will file a motion opposing the prosecution's proposed schedule. A lawyer for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-special-counsel-seeks-delay-start-trump-documents-trial-until-december-2023-06-23/



Trump is jealous he can't deploy the FBI on his own political enemies: former federal prosecutor



Former President Donald Trump is enraged over his federal indictment for hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, with he and his GOP allies — and even his rivals for president, like former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy — baselessly claiming that he is the victim of political targeting by the state.

But one of the less-discussed reasons he is so angry, argued former federal prosecutor Shan Wu for The Daily Beast on Friday, is "Deep State envy": he really wants to use the FBI to target his political enemies, exactly the way he is wrongly claiming is being done to him.

"Of course, what Trump and these Republicans really want is to control the DOJ and FBI themselves so that they can deploy law enforcement against their political enemies," wrote Wu. "We know that is their real goal because they propose making the DOJ and FBI less independent as a solution for what they claim is politically weaponized federal law enforcement — aimed at Republicans. Their illogic — not to mention hypocrisy — is perfectly illustrated by Gov. DeSantis’ argument that 'Republican presidents have accepted the canard that the DOJ and the FBI are ‘independent.’ They are not independent agencies. They are part of the executive branch. They answer to the President of the United States.' Accordingly, DeSantis promised to fire people at these agencies upon his becoming president."

The DOJ and FBI's rules and traditions guarding its independence, Wu admitted, show "that efforts to insulate the DOJ and FBI from political interference often fail" — and Attorney General Merrick Garland's painstaking efforts to preserve DOJ's independence have actually come at the cost of hindering investigations.

"Trump and Republicans’ daily attacks on the DOJ make plain the failure and futility of Garland’s efforts to protect the department against criticisms of being partisan. Moreover, Garland seems painfully blind to the fact that being overly concerned about being criticized for being political is, in itself, a politicization of the DOJ," wrote Wu. "So Trump and his Republican supporters may be right about the DOJ and FBI needing to be revamped, but not for the reasons they think. We just might need an attorney general who isn’t afraid to be taunted by GOP insults, and an FBI that is less independent and less able to dictate the pace of criminal investigations and prosecutions."

Trump faces 37 charges, including Espionage Act violations, for hoarding highly classified military secrets in boxes in unsecured rooms in his country club, and allegedly lying to federal officials and his own lawyers about how many he had. The trial was tentatively set for August, but special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion to move it to December.

Read More Here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-and-republicans-have-deep-state-envy



Jack Smith files new motions in Trump documents case

Special Counsel Jack Smith has requested to push back Trump’s classified documents trial to December. Plus, new reporting details the crucial evidence that led Smith to pursue a criminal case against the former president. Andrew Weissmann breaks it all down.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Jack Smith seeks to file sealed witness list and to delay Trump's and Nauta's trial to December



Special counsel Jack Smith has filed a motion with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon requesting a delay in former President Donald Trump's trial, along with the trial of Walt Nauta, Trump's valet and body man, in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case alongside his boss, reported Lawfare's Anna Bower.

In addition to the delay, Smith is seeking to file a "sealed list of witnesses" — and Trump and Nauta will both be prohibited from discussing the case with these witnesses. Smith also wants a pre-trial conference under the Classified Information Procedures Act.

"Here’s the Justice Department’s reasoning as to why it wants Trump’s trial moved from August to December," wrote Bower. "Basically: Defense counsel still needs to obtain security clearance & legal process under the Classified Information Procedures Act will take time."

Anna Bower @AnnaBower

JUST IN: In a series of filings, Special Counsel Jack Smith asks Judge Cannon:

(1) To delay Trump/Nauta’s trial to December 11, 2023;

(2) To file a sealed list of witnesses that Trump/Nauta are prohibited from speaking to about case;

(3) For a pre-trial conference under CIPA.





https://twitter.com/AnnaBower/status/1672384158557937664


The 37-count indictment against the former president alleges that he hoarded boxes of highly classified national defense information, which he allegedly ordered moved around between unsecured areas of his Mar-a-Lago country club so that federal authorities and even his own lawyers wouldn't be able to find it.

The trial date was initially set for August by Cannon, but legal experts from the start suspected that either Smith or Trump would move for it to be pushed back.

Cannon, a Trump appointee, has come under heavy scrutiny, as she previously was smacked down by a federal court for interfering in the case to block FBI officials from reviewing classified information, and currently appears on track to hold the trial in Fort Pierce

https://twitter.com/AnnaBower/status/1672384158557937664

[Rick Plant]

Trump tries to save $55,500 on the $5 million E. Jean Carroll verdict
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-save-55000-on-5-million-e-jean-carroll-verdict-2023-6


Trump was 'waving around' the lives of our spies for his own sense of entitlement: Ex-DOJ lawyer



Former DOJ Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary McCord tore into former President Donald Trump for the cavalier way he put lives at risk with his hoard of highly classified national defense information at Mar-a-Lago on MSNBC Friday.

"The 49 pages of Jack Smith's indictment of mishandling and willful retention of classified documents are full of things that no normal president says or does, but here we are," said anchor Nicolle Wallace. "I wonder what you think of this moment in terms of mistakes for U.S. national security."

"I think sometimes when we discuss, you know, this prosecution and, you know, Andrew [Weissman] and I sometimes get into the details on our podcast as former prosecutors, but I think what sometimes gets lost is exactly what you're pointing out, Nicolle, the information we're talking about here that the former president handled so carelessly for his own political purposes," said McCord. "So even if we accept him at his word, right, even if we accept him saying these documents were mine, of course I could take them, they're all mine under the Presidential Records Act — which is incorrect — but if we accept that, he was basically taking people's lives, waving them around publicly, keeping them in box where is they were vulnerable to being exposed to our adversaries, putting them at harm's risk, all so, I guess, he could feel good about having access to things that he felt like he was entitled to."

Notably, McCord added, "never once have you heard him express any concern about the people who have spent their lives' work collecting intelligence to protect our national security, oftentimes putting themselves at great risk and dying."

"I'll just tell you a little anecdote," continued McCord. "When I first came over from the U.S. Attorney's office to the Department of Justice National Security Division, about a month later, the FBI and our military did a capture operation in Libya to capture Abu Khattalah, who we had indicted and charged for crimes related to the attack on our mission in Benghazi, Libya, killing a sitting ambassador and three others, including three other members of our intelligence community. And I didn't sleep the entire night, so worried about the safety of the people who were risking their lives to capture this person, bring him back to be held accountable if a U.S. court for responsibility for killing U.S. nationals. And that's the depth of it, right."

But you wouldn't get any sense at all from Mr. Trump that he has any recognition of the seriousness of what's in those documents or that he cares," McCord added. "They are just political tools for him."

Watch:

Rep. Eric Swalwell: Trump 'has to meet legal accountability' for trying to steal election

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Friday night said he believes that Donald Trump was the mastermind behind the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, during which Swalwell says he feared for his life, and that, if so, Trump must be held legally accountable.

Swalwell appeared on The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell Friday, when he was asked if he thinks special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the insurrection would "get to" the former president and resulting in another indictment of Trump.

"Look, in a crime like this, you have the hustle and the muscle. And as somebody who was on the other side of the doors that those terrorists were trying to bang down and get into, and cause great bodily injury to the lives of the people on the floor, I'm grateful that the Department of Justice has gone after the muscle," Swalwell said.

The lawmaker added that "the hustle is Donald Trump."

"I am still convinced that if Donald Trump had accepted the outcome of the 2020 election when it was called by the media, or when people went to vote in the individual states to certify the electoral college votes in their states, if he had conceded, even when Mitch McConnell had finally in December conceded that Donald Trump was not going to be the president, if he had conceded then and not shown up to the January 6th rally, ask yourself. 'Would this have happened?' and I'm convinced that, but for Trump, it would never have happened. If that's the case, he's the hustle. And if that's the case, he has to meet legal accountability."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Exclusive: Special counsel trades immunity for fake elector testimony as Jan 6 probe heats up



Washington CNN — Special counsel Jack Smith has compelled at least two Republican fake electors to testify to a federal grand jury in Washington in recent weeks by giving them limited immunity, part of a current push by federal prosecutors to swiftly nail down evidence in the sprawling criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The testimony, described to CNN by people familiar with the situation, comes after a year of relative dormancy around the fake electors portion of the investigation and as a parade of related witnesses are being told to appear before the grand jury with no chance for delay.

That activity could signal that investigators are nearing at least some charging decisions in a part of the 2020 election probe, sources added. It also comes just as the special counsel’s office filed charges against former President Donald Trump for his handling of classified documents.

Prosecutors initially obtained documents and interviews last spring from many of the Republicans who signed false certificates to the federal government, asserting they were the rightful electors for Trump in seven battleground states won by Joe Biden.

Prosecutors have played hardball with some of the witnesses in recent weeks, refusing to grant extensions to grand jury subpoenas for testimony and demanding they comply before the end of this month, sources said. In the situations where prosecutors have given witnesses immunity, the special counsel’s office arrived at the courthouse in Washington ready to compel their testimony after the witnesses indicated they would decline to answer questions under the Fifth Amendment, the sources added.

Locking in witness statements

The compelled testimony has allowed the special counsel’s office to lock in witness statements and potentially information that other investigators who have looked at the aftermath of the 2020 election couldn’t obtain.

At least one other witness has spoken to investigators in the past two weeks outside of the grand jury with an agreement the person would be protected from potential prosecution, another source said.
At least half a dozen witnesses have testified before the federal grand jury in Washington over four days in the past two weeks, with many of the sessions focused on the fake electors’ plot orchestrated by attorneys assisting the Trump campaign in 2020. The numbers, profile of the witnesses and prosecutor tactics suggest a probe picking up its pace, several people familiar with the investigation said.

Lawyers who have been in touch with the special counsel’s office in the wake of Trump’s indictment in Florida have found that prosecutors are still examining what appear to be other aspects of the investigation into Trump and his allies’ efforts to subvert the 2020 election results.

It is not clear if Trump is a target in the fake electors aspect of Smith’s ongoing criminal probe. But in recent months, prosecutors have pursued information about the former president’s words and actions after the 2020 election, including securing court-ordered testimony from his former vice president, Mike Pence.

Prosecutors have also asked multiple witnesses recently about Trump’s actions before, during and after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, sources said.

An interest in former Trump legal team

In recent weeks, the special counsel’s office has also shown interest in several members of Trump’s post-election legal team who promoted baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, including his former lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, as well as former Justice Department appointee Jeffrey Clark, who tried to help Trump’s push to use the Department of Justice to overturn the election.

Giuliani played a key role in overseeing the fake electors plot across seven battleground states as part of the broader push to overturn the 2020 presidential election results for Trump, as CNN has previously reported.

Prosecutors have also continued to focus on potential financial crimes and money laundering after Trump raised millions of dollars off false claims the election was stolen. One former Trump campaign official who testified this month before the grand jury was asked about specific campaign ads and messaging produced as part of those fundraising activities, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Multiple 2020 election witnesses are scheduled for grand jury appointments in the coming days, sources say.

Fake electors in Nevada

The fake electors scheme – one of the more public efforts to overturn Biden’s win in the 2020 election – now appears to be at the forefront for prosecutors, sources said. The Republicans at the center of the fake electors effort asserted that Trump won in seven battleground states that he actually lost, and signed documents claiming they were the rightful electors.

The two Nevada Trump electors who were given the limited immunity – the state’s Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald and another Nevada GOP official, Jim DeGraffenreid – both testified before the grand jury last week.

At least two more grand jury witnesses this week had insight into the fake electors scheme, including Gary Michael Brown, a 2020 Trump campaign election day operations official, who had told campaign staff he delivered fake elector votes for Trump to Congress from battleground states. Brown previously never responded to House Select Committee investigators who tried to reach him in their separate investigation.

Attorneys representing the witnesses declined to comment to CNN.

McDonald and DeGraffenreid previously declined to answer some questions about the fake electors scheme in the House inquiry.

McDonald also previously told reporters in Nevada that the FBI seized his phone as part of the federal probe related to January 6 and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The two Nevada fake electors who testified recently spoke to the grand jury about the actions of Nevada’s former GOP attorney general Adam Laxalt, and Jesse Binnall, a lawyer who worked for the Trump campaign in Nevada. Laxalt and Binnall both appeared at a press conference in mid-November 2020 to tout a lawsuit challenging the presidential election results and spreading claims of election fraud.

“Donald Trump won the state of Nevada after you account for the fraud and irregularities that occurred in the election,” said Binnall, who was one of the lawyers who brought a failed lawsuit on behalf of the GOP electors in Nevada.

"Adam Laxalt has never been contacted by the special counsel,” Robert Uithoven, a Laxalt spokesman, told CNN.

Binnall declined to comment.

As part of the special counsel’s investigation into the state-level efforts to overturn the election results, several county election commissions and state officials in battleground states Trump tried to contest received subpoenas last year for documents related to communications involving his campaign and various allies.

Nevada’s Clark County was among those that produced documents following a subpoena. In the batch of documents handed over and obtained by CNN, representatives for Trump’s campaign were in touch with election workers in Clark County. In their communications, the election workers parried questions from the Trump campaign about mail-in ballots and knocked down rumors, including a claim that there were problems with ballot tabulation hardware, the documents show.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/23/politics/special-counsel-fake-electors-immunity-testimony-jan-6/index.html



Heat on Trump: Jack Smith strikes deal with fake MAGA electors in coup probe

Jack Smith’s January 6 probe revives with new heat on MAGA electors. CNN reporting Smith got "at least two Republican fake electors to testify to a federal grand jury in Washington in recent weeks by giving them limited immunity.” CNN adding the move could signal “at least some charging decisions.” MSNBC Chief Legal Correspondent Ari Melber reports.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Jack Smith Will 'Wring the Truth' Out of Trump Fake Electors: Kirschner



At least two of the fake Republican electors who were installed by former President Donald Trump to falsely declare him the winner of the 2020 election have testified before the federal grand jury investigating the former president's alleged attempt to overturn the last presidential election, according to CNN.

The exclusive report, which cites sources familiar with the situation, is the latest sign of activity with Special Counsel Jack Smith's probe into Trump's actions leading up to the siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and could signal that decisions on charges are nearing.

It's also a sign that Smith "continues to move forward on all fronts" of his investigations against Trump, said former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, as the Department of Justice also moves steadily along in its case against the former president regarding his handling of classified documents.

Federal prosecutors have been investigating multiple avenues in which Trump and his allies allegedly attempted to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden, including the elaborate scheme to subvert the Electoral College process at the hands of fake electors who were pledged to Trump in seven key swing states that the former president lost.

According to CNN, at least two of those electors in question agreed to testify to the grand jury in Trump's case on a limited immunity deal. The grand jury has also heard from "at least half a dozen witnesses" in the past two weeks, read the report, and at least one other witness spoke to investigators outside of the grand jury on the agreement that they would not be prosecuted.

Kirschner, who spoke about the update in Trump's January 6 case on his Justice Matters podcast Friday, said that Smith's agreement with the fake electors is a "tactical decision" that it is more imperative to "lock in their testimony that very likely will incriminate Donald Trump" than worry about "nobodies who committed crimes."

"What are the odds that Republican operatives and officials in all seven battleground states simultaneously and coincidentally came up with the fake elector scheme?" Kirschner posed.

"Come on, man. This was a Washington-conceived, Washington-implemented, Washington-controlled criminal operation from the top down."

"That's a tactical decision that I certainly entrust Jack Smith to make," the legal analyst continued, speaking about the limited immunity deals. "I'm sure he's making the right decisions, the best decisions based on the available evidence, and he has decided that it's better to grant some of these fake electors immunity and use their testimony against Trump and company than try to prosecute them all."

"[Smith]'s going to wring the truth out of them upfront, and he's going to use that truth to make sure he brings the best, most complete, most compelling case he can bring against Donald Trump and his legal team," Kirschner added.

The fake elector issue has also been a major part of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation of the former president's alleged attempts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results. Willis' office previously reached an immunity deal with eight of the 16 fake Republican electors in her state in exchange for their grand jury testimonies, and is expected to wrap up decisions on charges by summer's end.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1672620544053719041

https://www.newsweek.com/jack-smith-will-wring-truth-out-trump-fake-electors-kirschner-1808799



Jack Smith continues to investigate Trump on all fronts; puts Republican fake electors in grand jury

Special Counsel Jack Smith continues to investigate the crimes of Trump and company on all fronts. New reporting from CNN indicates, "Special counsel trades immunity for fake elector testimony as Jan 6 probe heats up."

This video discusses why prosecutors decide to grant some culpable individuals immunity and compel them to testify before the grand jury.

Watch: