Jack Smith strikes back against Donald Trump
Jack Smith is seemingly one step ahead of Donald Trump. One of the most burning questions surrounding Donald Trump is why he took those documents to Mar-a-Lago. Huff Post seems to think that Smith has hinted at the reason with a filing in the case, but it’s not clear. Trump, as he always does, has asked for a delay in the classified documents case. Jack Smith countered by telling the court that they are ready to go, and there is no need for a delay. Smith’s office said: “That the classified materials at issue in this case were taken from the White House and retained at Mar-a-Lago is not in dispute. . . . What is in dispute is how that occurred, why it occurred, what Trump knew, and what Trump intended in retaining them-all issues that the Government will prove at trial primarily with unclassified evidence.” This doesn’t sound good for Donald Trump.
Jack Smith’s team went all out with their response to Trump’s motion to delay. They pointed out that Trump’s attorneys have inaccurately portrayed the evidence to the court, and they went on to create a timeline for the court, including the fact that they turned over 800,000 pages of classified documents a mere eight days after Trump was arraigned in June. We’re now four months past that date, and they are whining that they don’t have time to go through the documents prior to a May 2024 trial date-a date which is still seven months away. In addition to the documents, the Special Counsel’s office turned over all grand jury testimony, witness statements, evidence they obtained through search warrants and subpoenas, the search warrants and applications, CCTV footage, and they took the time to specifically identify 4,500 pages of key documents. In other words, they laid it all out for Trump’s attorneys. That’s likely the problem. They’re seeing just how much trouble Trump is in and have no idea how to combat that evidence.
Trump and his attorneys underestimated Jack Smith from the very beginning. He’s anything but stupid, and there’s only so much Trump’s favorite judge can do to help him. Smith’s office has even turned over testimony from witnesses they don’t plan to call at trial, something they did not have to do under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Those documents are considered “undiscoverable,” but they turned them over anyway. That is what you call transparency. They want Donald Trump to see every piece of evidence that is going to send him to federal prison. Smith is taking similar procedures with the election interference case by laying all his proverbial cards on the table and telling Trump: “Your turn.” Trump is an idiot, but he’s not a fool. He knows what the government has against him, and he knows he has no defense in either case. His best bet is to try to delay, hoping he wins the presidency and can pardon himself. Good luck with that. Trump has a snowball’s chance in hell of retaking the presidency, but he’s got a damned good chance of going to jail.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years