Florida state attorney Dave Aronberg on Monday suggested that special counsel Jack Smith may be delaying former President Donald Trump’s election interference case to keep his strategy hidden from the defense.
Smith recently requested to delay a hearing in Trump’s case to evaluate the impact of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, asking for the timeline to be postponed several weeks, effectively delaying any action until September. Aronberg, on “Morning Joe” said Smith may want to prevent Trump’s defense from viewing the witnesses so the special counsel can “protect” them.
WATCH:
Florida State Attorney Tells MSNBC Jack Smith May Be Delaying Case To Hide ‘His Cards’ From Trump pic.twitter.com/kFk3UQC7s3
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 26, 2024
“Jack Smith may not want the defense to see his cards. He may not want the defense to see the witnesses, be better prepared for the ultimate trial that’ll happen if Trump is not elected,” Aronberg said. “And so that may be part of it.”
Judge Tanya Chutkan consented to Smith’s request to reschedule the Aug. 16 hearing for Sept. 5, and to enable the parties to file schedules for pretrial proceedings on Aug. 30, according to a court order. Smith also likely will not pursue a mini trial before the November election, two individuals familiar with the situation told The New York Times.
“He also may want to protect his witnesses, like Mike Pence, from being harassed, from being threatened by the MAGA world. Mike Pence would have to take the stand in this mini trial,” Aronberg added. “He also may want to protect Donald Trump from having a Sixth Amendment violation, where he loses the right to a fair trial because Jack Smith has tainted the jury pool. And if that happens, then an appellate court could throw the whole thing out.”
Trump faces four felony counts pertaining to alleged efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election. Chutkan originally denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the case due to presidential immunity on Dec. 1, with the former president’s appeal leading to a multi-month delay in the case and the cancellation of the original March trial date.
“There are some people saying that Jack Smith and Merrick Garland don’t want to look political. That’s why they’re not doing this because it’s so close to the election. That’s not a good reason to avoid doing this,” he continued. “Because whether you do it or don’t, you’re going to be called political. The MAGA world’s going to say you’re weaponizing the Department of Justice. So go ahead and follow the evidence and the law and do it. Whether you decide to do it or not should not be based on politics. If you choose not to decide, you’ll still have made a choice.”
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/X/MSNBC)
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