The Legal Walls Are Closing In On Trump
Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | February 16, 2023
The legal walls are closing in on former President Donald Trump as a multitude of legal threats have moved to a new, dangerous stage for Trump.
Here’s where things stand:
Fulton County, Georgia
Today, Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney released five pages of a special grand jury’s report on its investigation into potential criminal interference by Trump and others into the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
While today’s disclosures did not include information about any potential indictments that may be recommended by the special grand jury, Judge McBurney revealed earlier this week that the full report includes “a roster of who should (or should not) be indicted, and for what, in relation to the conduct (and aftermath) of the 2020 general election in Georgia.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who will decide whether to bring indictments in this criminal investigation, recently said that such “decisions are imminent.”
Looming large is Trump’s attempt to pressure and intimidate Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s victory in Georgia.
Trump’s infamous words to Raffensperger provide a powerful basis for Willis to pursue an indictment and conviction of Trump: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state. … So what are we going to do here, folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.”
Manhattan
A moribund criminal investigation by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg into Trump’s role in paying hush money to a porn star has snapped back to life. Bragg is now actively pursuing the case and it poses another imminent threat to Trump of criminal prosecution.
New York State
Trump is facing a major civil lawsuit filed last September by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The lawsuit charges Trump, the Trump Organization, and his three children, Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka, with lying to insurers and lenders and fraudulently overvaluing Trump assets by billions of dollars. The lawsuit seeks to bar Trump, his organization, and his children from doing business in New York, and to recover at least $250 million in penalties.
Justice Dept Special Counsel: Criminal Investigation #1
In the biggest criminal investigation facing Trump – dealing with his attempted coup and the insurrectionist attack on the Capitol – Special Counsel Jack Smith is now moving aggressively.
Two recent subpoenas issued by the Special Counsel went to top officials in the Trump Administration, demonstrating that the criminal investigation is reaching the top of the chain of people who need to be questioned before any potential indictments are made.
One subpoena went to former Vice President Mike Pence. We know from public information that Trump put enormous pressure on Pence to refuse to certify Biden’s presidential electors when Congress met on January 6 to count the electoral votes.
Pence has said he will fight the subpoena on the flimsy grounds that as president of the Senate he is shielded from testifying by the Constitution’s “Speech or Debate clause,” despite the fact that it only applies to Senators and Representatives.
The other subpoena went to Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. The House Jan. 6 Committee hearings revealed that Meadows played a pivotal role in the Trump efforts to overturn the presidential election and to prevent Congress from certifying a Biden victory.
Justice Dept Special Counsel – Criminal Investigation #2
In another DOJ investigation, the Special Counsel’s office has asked a federal judge to require an attorney representing Trump in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, Evan Corcoran, to testify before a grand jury. While attorney-client privilege normally would bar such testimony, the Special Counsel is arguing that attorney-client privilege is not applicable here because Corcoran was being used to carry out a crime or fraud.
The Justice Department may be trying to establish whether Trump was responsible for false information being provided to the government by giving Corcoran false information about classified documents being returned.
Trump has spent most of his life skirting legal responsibility for his actions. That free ride may be about to end.
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Fred’s Weekly Note appears each Thursday in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s and other recent newsletters here. And, subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.
