Expert legal observers say special counsel Jack Smith is likely plotting one of three options in his prosecution of former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election interference case in Washington, D.C., The Hill reported.
Smith asked for and received an extension by District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan after the Supreme Court's ruling that gave Trump broad immunity for official acts while president. With the new deadline of Aug. 30 approaching, legal experts distilled Smith's likely prosecutorial path down to three options:
- Narrow it: Drop some of the four charges against Trump.
- Expand it: Charge Trump's unindicted co-conspirators.
- Mini-trial: Review evidence and how it stacks up against official acts.
"They need to make a number of decisions. They have to decide what evidence do they have left potentially within the scope of the immunity ruling," former federal prosecutor Kimberly Wehle told The Hill.
Whatever Smith's decision, he has to mount a case that not only earns a conviction at trial but stands up to an appeal before the Supreme Court, which is all but certain if Trump is convicted.
"My guess is that's the part that they're really struggling with," former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade told The Hill. "What you don't want to do as a prosecutor is win the battle and lose the war. So you put up this great case, and you get all this evidence in, and there's a conviction, and then ultimately it gets overturned because the [Supreme] Court says, 'Oh, you know that one piece of evidence that you used about that statement Trump made? That was an official act.'"
Smith could also decide to charge Trump's co-conspirators Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jeff Clark, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, and Boris Epshteyn. McQuade surmised that Smith opted against charging them before in order to streamline his case against Trump, which was waylaid by the eight months' worth of appeals regarding immunity.
"But in light of the fact that there will be no trial [before the election], maybe he's decided, 'You know what, the time's come, I'm just going to charge the other defendants,'" McQuade told The Hill.
Chutkan set a status conference for Sept. 5.