A recently surfaced recording, purportedly featuring audio of former President Donald Trump and RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel discussing strategies with Michigan officials to undermine the 2020 presidential election, will be a focal point in the prosecutorial evidence handled by special counsel Jack Smith.
MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos emphasized the potential legal consequences, suggesting that while there has been speculation about possible liabilities in a Michigan court, the more intriguing aspect lies in the federal context.
What Trump has to fear from the Michigan tape https://t.co/xx2pq6z2YS
— POLITICO (@politico) December 22, 2023
Legal experts suggest that the recorded conversation could expose Trump to a federal bribery charge, as they argue that offering a thing of value to a public official to violate their oath of office constitutes a crime.
The tape, in which Trump urges canvassers to "fight for our country," and McDaniel pledges legal assistance, is seen by some as presenting a more ominous narrative than previously acknowledged.
Former federal judge J. Michael Luttig contends that this new evidence aligns with other similar instances of interference by the former president in the 2020 election, strengthening the cases assembled by prosecutors such as Jack Smith in Michigan and Fani Willis in Georgia.
Luttig argues that Trump's actions were not in line with his duty to ensure the faithful execution of laws but instead represented an attempt to interfere in the election.
Ty Cobb, a former lawyer for Trump, sees potential violations of the federal honest services fraud statute and suggests that the recordings reveal Trump's personal involvement in promoting the baseless "Big Lie."
While acknowledging that Smith might already have substantial evidence, Cobb emphasizes the possible separate charges at the state level in Michigan.
However, defense attorney Timothy Parlatore, who served on Trump's criminal defense team, offers a more skeptical perspective, calling for a complete presentation of the tape and emphasizing the importance of context.
He suggests that the promise to provide lawyers could be construed as part of a legal process, particularly if canvassers were seeking a pre-certification audit for accuracy.
The revelations adds a new layer of complexity to ongoing legal battles surrounding the 2020 election, prompting discussions about potential charges and their impact on Trump's legal standing.
The evolving narrative underscores the dynamic intersection of legal and political dimensions as the fallout from the 2020 election continues to unfold.
The new details also add to the 2024 election drama as Trump has already been removed from the Colorado ballot in the ongoing comeback effort to return to the White House.
