CNN Analyst Says Jack Smith ‘Knows What He’s Doing’ — Brought Charges That Can ‘Go To Trial Before Election’
CNN legal analyst Karen Friedman Agnifilo said Special Counsel Jack Smith “knows what he’s doing” in crafting a “streamlined” indictment that can “go to trial before the election.”
On Tuesday evening, news broke that ex-President Donald Trump has been indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury for his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election before and on January 6, 2021. Trump faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United State, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
Much of the commentary on the indictments features predictions that the case can’t be brought to trial before the election, but Agnifilo — a former colleague of Smith’s who joined live coverage of the indictment on Tuesday night’s edition of CNN’s OutFront — said Smith designed the indictment to do just that:
I think he did his job. He’s a public servant and he did what he had to do. He wanted to get the information out there clear, and from his his words, before Donald Trump had a chance to spin it. I think he also kept it short and sweet.
I thought it was wonderful that he praised the heroes of the Capitol that day who gave me the chills when when he said they not only protected the building and the people in it, but really just our democracy and our country and our values.
And that’s who Jack Smith is. That’s what he believes in. He’s a public servant. He’s been a public servant his whole career. I met him when he it was both our first jobs out of law school. We worked at the Manhattan DA’s office together and in a very small group. And we were trained together. And I wasn’t surprised to see a streamlined indictment against just Trump for charges with with all the facts in there. But this is neat and clean, and this has a chance of going to trial before the election. And that’s exactly what Jack Smith did. He he knows what he’s doing and he did it here.
CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen also predicted the case would see the inside of a courtroom before the election:
We heard Jack Smith, I thought in that incredibly powerful press conference, the two most important words that I heard were speedy trial.
Alvin Bragg has a March 2024 trial date. He said he would, he’s hinted he would step aside publicly to make room for this case.
Judge Chutkan knows how to move a case quickly. There’ll be none of this dallying that we saw before Judge Cannon in Mar a Lago. She will move this case quickly. I disagree with my friend Ty Cobb, also a longtime defense lawyer here in D.C.. I think we are going to see this case go to trial before the 2024 general.
Watch above via CNN’s OutFront.
