All records from Special Counsel Jack Smith's election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump should be preserved, former federal prosecutor Doug Burns told Newsmax Thursday.
His comments on Newsmax's "Wake Up America" came while discussing a Trump-appointed judge's ruling to reject a push from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to order Smith to preserve all records from the case.
"I would say you might as well preserve them," Burns said. "You can never go wrong with preserving records."
However, he added that the argument is "mostly academic."
"There's a short-term effort to talk about how this thing is ongoing and could potentially continue, but the reality is, it's completely over, in my opinion," said Burns.
Smith asked that the case be dismissed without prejudice, meaning he could bring charges again after Trump serves his next term as president.
"But in all my years of practicing federal criminal law, I've never seen a case brought back, and I don't expect that's going to be the case here," said Burns.
Further, questions about the statute of limitations could come into play, he said.
"It will be 8 years from 2020 to 2028," said Burns, adding that "way in the weeds" of the DOJ memo about dropping the case, there is a provision that says that since Trump can't be prosecuted while he's a sitting president, that could "put a time out on the statute of limitations."
"Again, it's going to be academic," said Burns. "It's not going to matter. But it's also only in exceptional circumstances, by the way, that it gets tolled … I think they would face big-time statute of limitations problems."
Meanwhile, Trump's attorneys are asking that New York Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Juan Merchan to drop the civil fraud case he is facing, and Burns noted that the case is already on appeal.
"I predict that they will cut the award way, way, way, way back," said Burns. "They may technically leave in the liability which President Trump is not going to care about and just cut the award to zero real quick."
"I was in a case one time and there was no loss mortgage fraud," he continued. "The properties went way up and the judge calmly looked at me and he said, 'Obviously I'm not imposing any fine or restitution, Mr. Burns, because there's no loss.' And here there is no loss and [Merchan] imposes a $450 million fine. It's outrageous."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE – See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com