Changing lead attorneys in Georgia racketeering case, 77-year-old former President Donald Trump continues to incriminate himself on his Truth Social platform or in statements to the press. Trump couldn’t help but respond to 64-year-old former Vice President Mike Pence who’s been saying Trump asked him to put himself above the U.S. Constitution. All stemmed from Pence’s ceremonial role in certifying the Electoral College vote. “I never asked Mike Pence to put me above the Constitution. Who would say such a thing? “FAKE STORY!” said Trump. Since announcing for president June 7, Pence has said that Trump asked him to stop the Electoral College vote certification, something Pence said he had no authority to do. Whatever Trump asked Pence to do Jan. 6, 2021, Pence thought asked him to stop the Electoral College vote certification, something Pence said he had no authority.
Pence gets under Trump’s skin telling the press he put the Constitution over Trump’s requests. Many Jan. 6 protesters blamed Pence for not stopping the Electoral College vote certification. “The American people deserve to know that the president asked me, in his request that I reject or return votes unilaterally—a power that no vice president in American history had ever exercised or taken—he asked me to put him over the Constitution. And I chose the Constitution, and I always will,” Pence said in the debate. Trump’s attorneys can’t be happy watching Trump comment on his pending legal cases against him. Special Counsel Jack Smith filed charges against Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, doing nothing to stop the mayhem once they spun out of control. Whether Trump could have stopped the rabble-rousers is subject to controversy, obviously he didn’t order the crowd to attack.
Smith has a tall order to fill charging Trump with defrauding the U.S. government because he believed Democrats defrauded him out of the election. Every statement he makes on his Truth Social or in interviews like one given to Tucker Carlson last night can be used against him in court. Juries can only take so many explanations for why he denies doing anything wrong. Smith’s case against Trump must establish that the former president actually knew that he lost the 2020 election but continued to claim voter fraud anyway. Smith won’t have an easy time convincing a jury that Trump deliberately claims voter fraud when he knows otherwise. Since losing to Biden Nov. 3, 2020, Trump has consistently maintained that he was defrauded out of the election, nothing inconsistent there. Smith must show that Trump privately told people he legitimately lost the election but insisted he was defrauded.
Anyone informed about the Vice President’s role in certifying the Electoral College vote knows that Pence lacked the authority to anything more than his ceremonial role. Trump is technically correct saying that he never asked Pence to violate the Constitution. But Trump sounds like he thought Pence had the authority to stop the Electoral Vote count. Many of Trump’s supporters also believe Pence had the authority to stop the vote count. While Trump technically never asked Pence to violate the Constitution, he believes incorrectly that Pence had the authority to stop the vote. Smith won’t find it easy to prove that Trump knew it violated the Constitution asking Pence to stop the Electoral College voter certification. At some point a jury of Trump’s peers could conclude that no one believes that Trump didn’t know the limit of the Vice President’s Constitutional authority.
Trump has been warned by his attorneys to zip it because his statements on Truth Social or public remarks can be used against him. Special Counsel Smith has Congressional Democrats cheering him on as he tries to convict Trump of actual crimes, not just high-crimes-and-misdemeanors under the Constitution’s impeachment clause. Anything said by Trump can be used against him, even statements made in jest. Trump once joked during the 2016 campaign that he wanted to know if Russian President Vladimir Putin had any more dirt on former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Trump knew at the time Hillary had deleted some 33,000 emails from her private server, constituting obstruction of justice by DOJ standards. But the Putin quip cost Trump years of investigations into his alleged ties to the Kremlin, something still believed by Democrats.
Trump switched his lead attorney in the Georgia racketeering case today to Steve Sadow today, a legendary Atlanta defense attorney. Sadow would prefer Trump remain silent between now and the trial, whenever that takes place. Sadow should make mincemeat or Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ case under Georgia’s racketeering statutes. Trump got into hot water on a phone Jan. 2, 2021 to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, joking with him about finding 11,780 votes to put him over the top. What Trump meant was what happened to all my votes? Trump asked Raffensperger to locate the missing ballots, no to make up fraudulent ones. Fani Willis went over the top accusing Trump of trying to change the Georgia vote count when all he wanted to do was find only votes that were legitimately his. Any public remark, Tweet or statement can be taken out of context and used against Trump in court.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
