Even more criminal charges for Donald Trump
Late Thursday afternoon, the Independent published a story indicating that Jack Smith’s team is preparing to file additional charges against Donald Trump. According to the Independent, the charges could number anywhere between 30 and 45 on top of the 37 with which Trump is already charged. Where the Independent got this news is, of course, not revealed, making it difficult to ascertain the truth. Though some of their information has a ring of truth, it also doesn’t fully make sense.
The outlet reported that Jack Smith’s team is preparing to bring a “superseding indictment.” If that were the case, these new charges would relate to the classified documents case. A superseding indictment does exactly what it says: it overrides the original indictment by adding new charges and, sometimes, new defendants, hence the term “superseding.” As you read the text of the piece, however, the information seems to relate more to Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and his incitement of the January 6 insurrection because of the involvement of one Rudy Giuliani.
According to both the Independent and Salon, Giuliani has submitted to a voluntarily interview by the special counsel’s team. Salon calls the meeting a “proffer agreement,” which means that if Giuliani gives them something good, he gets off light while the full proverbial book is thrown at Donald Trump. “Proffer” can be interchangeably used with “deal.” What this likely means-if true-is that Trump will be prosecuted both in southern Florida and Washington, D.C., where the bulk of his crimes occurred in trying to overturn the 2020 election. The Independent further intimates that the special prosecutor is using evidence “that has not yet been publicly acknowledged,” which they believe includes other recordings of Trump incriminating himself.
As previously noted, Trump is a braggart who has always believed himself above the law. It makes sense, then, that he allowed himself to be taped saying things that would hurt him in a criminal case, but because he thought himself above the law, he gave no thought to running his mouth. What makes this information seem more likely to involve the 2020 election and January 6, the Independent claimed that Smith’s team is prepared to bring charges against “several of the attorneys” who helped Trump in those endeavors. The outlet called Giuliani’s cooperation “a queen for a day deal,” which means Giuliani could completely avoid prosecution depending on what he gave Smith’s team, though it appears unlikely he will escape totally because Smith’s prosecutors will charge him with something; it may be lesser charges, but the intent here is clear. Giuliani’s session focused on Trump’s activities in seeking to overturn the election.
We will likely hear more about this in the coming days, but this release of information is certainly a “bombshell” of sorts. Trump can’t even get out from under the original charges before he’s going to be slapped with others. You’d better believe the evidence in this case is just as strong as in the classified documents case. Keep your eyes and ears open for what’s coming next.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years