Turns out Donald Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran made recordings too – and Jack Smith has them
Earlier this week it was reported that DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith has partially built his criminal case against Donald Trump based on a recording of Trump discussing a classified document he’d stolen. Now it turns out Smith also has recordings of a different kind.
Jack Smith has long been in possession of “notes” taken by Trump attorney Evan Corcoran. These are the notes that the courts handed to Smith while ordering that Corcoran testify against Trump to the grand jury. These notes are crucial because they provide corroboration for Corcoran’s testimony. The notes prove that the version of events that Corcoran is now giving in his testimony is the same version of events that Corcoran witnessed in real time, and not merely something that he’s made up or altered after the fact.
Here’s the kicker. These “notes” are actually recorded notes that Corcoran made while he was representing Trump in the classified documents probe, per new reporting from the New York Times. This means that Jack Smith isn’t merely in possession of a few Corcoran scribbles; he has Corcoran on tape documenting everything that he witnessed Trump saying and doing at the time.
Again, these notes are all about allowing the jury (for now the grand jury bringing the indictment, and eventually the trial jury bringing the conviction) to feel confident in believing the accuracy of the testimony that Evan Corcoran is giving against Donald Trump. Under the law, testimony is considered more reliable if the witness took real-time notes. And in this instance Jack Smith has been able to play entire recordings of Corcoran to the grand jury that prove he hasn’t changed his story. Smith will get to play those recordings again when Corcoran inevitably testifies in Trump’s criminal trial.
