Former President Trump faces additional accusations from DOJ special counsel Jack Smith. They are being described by the legal experts on Fox and Friends Weekend as “actually quite damning” and are regrettably “adding some substance.”
Among the accusations is that Trump ordered his staff to delete evidence requested in a subpoena. According to legal expert Katie Cherkasky, the claims of deleting this information, as opposed to just keeping items, and alleging that he expressly had a share of ownership over them, are highly damning.
After the former president left office in January 2021, the Department of Justice issued a superseding indictment that included new accusations against him for mishandling confidential information obtained by the FBI from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, in August of that year. Property manager Carlos De Oliveira was also named in the court papers; he is suspected of aiding the former president and Trump’s co-defendant Walt Nauta in thwarting attempts by the government to obtain the classified information.
Paul Mauro, a legal expert, reiterated the seriousness of the DOJ’s accusations, saying that they’ve gained some ground here in the case against Mr. Trump but that it does, sadly, add some substance. When Dean Cain questioned Mauro whether he thought De Oliveira would turn on the ex-president, Mauro said, “This is the hammer.”
He said if you’re attempting to get a witness to switch sides in a case like this, and this particular witness looks to have a lot of insider knowledge, the last thing you want to do is indict him.
Since the extra allegations were made public, Trump has been active on his social media channel, Truth Social. His most recent entry reads, “MAR-A-LAGO SECURITY TAPES WERE NOT DELETED.”
He said the “thugs,” led by Jack Smith (who Trump described as “deranged”), were given the tapes voluntarily. Trump noted that he didn’t file a lawsuit to keep them from obtaining the tapes.
Trump says he never once ordered them to be erased.
He said the latest developments were “INTERFERENCE IN THE ELECTION!” (All caps.)
