A former criminal defense counsel for Donald Trump argues that the investigation into the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified documents may not even result in a trial.
Timothy Parlatore, who served as Trump’s criminal defense attorney until last month, spoke with Fox News host Laura Ingraham about Trump’s arraignment in Miami on Tuesday in the case brought against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by Biden’s Department of Justice.
Trump entered his “not guilty” plea in federal court. Trump, President Joe Biden’s chief opponent in next year’s presidential election, could face decades in prison if proven guilty on all charges.
Parlatore argued that there are fundamental faults in the case, specifically regarding the grand jury process and violations of attorney-client privilege. Parlatore stated that he believes this could result in the dismissal of the entire case.
Trump’s attorneys should “attack the conduct of the entire investigation and demonstrate through death by a thousand cuts why this entire investigation is irreparably tainted by government misconduct,” according to Parlatore. “The case should be dismissed or, at the very least, the prosecutor should be disqualified,” he added.
A report surfaced earlier this week that Smith may execute a “backup plan” if his case against Trump in Florida fails.
Professors of law at New York University Ryan Goodman and Andrew Weissmann speculated in an op-ed for The Atlantic that if the classified documents case against Trump in Florida fails, Smith could pursue charges of “dissemination of classified documents” in New Jersey in a separate indictment.
“Smith appears to have taken a cautious, narrow approach. Even though the indictment describes alleged dissemination and disclosure of national-security secrets, the indictment did not charge Trump with those offenses,” they write. “One possible explanation for his decision: venue. The Constitution requires prosecutors to bring charges in the location—or venue—where the alleged criminal conduct took place. Justice Department prosecutors could not necessarily bring charges against Trump in Miami for alleged criminal conduct that occurred in another state, in this case New Jersey. But the absence of such charges in the indictment raises the intriguing possibility of another indictment to come, in a jurisdiction, no less, with a pool of jurors and judges more favorable to the government’s case against Trump,” the authors wrote in the report.
More on this story via Conservative Brief:
The report goes on to speculate that if the Florida judge were to delay the case proceedings after the 2024 presidential election, Smith could move ahead with charges in New Jersey — a Democrat stronghold that would likely not be favorable to Trump. CONTINUE READING…
