CNN’s Elie Honig Argues Latest Trump Case Revelation Helps ‘Set The Stage For Obstruction’ At Trial: ‘Duped His Own Lawyer’
CNN’s senior legal analyst Elie Honig joined CNN This Morning to held shed light on the latest developments surrounding Trump’s multiple court cases, including the revelation Wednesday that Trump was warned the FBI might raid his home if he did not fully comply with a federal subpoena.
“One of the former president’s attorneys, Evan Corcoran, we know, took voice memos about conversations with Trump. We know that from the indictment itself. Now, ABC News has transcripts of those voice memos. To be clear, CNN has not reviewed them. Based on what we’ve seen up to this point and what we knew prior, what stands out to you?” anchor Phil Mattingly asked Honig about the latest revelation.
“So I think the importance of these transcripts is it sets the stage for the obstruction of justice,” Honig replied, adding:
Again, now we’re talking about Mar-a-Lago, the classified documents case down in Florida. And remember, what Donald Trump is accused of doing is essentially hiding those documents from not just the grand jury and the FBI, but from his own lawyer. He intentionally duped his own lawyer, Evan Corcoran.
And there comes this moment, according to the reporting, where Corcoran says to Trump, hey, you got a subpoena, we need to comply with this. This is serious. We need to turn everything over. And the reporting is that Trump essentially flipped out and basically became defiant. And I think if you’re trying to explain to a grand jury, how do we get to the point or to a trial jury, how do we get to a point when Donald Trump was obstructing justice, was hiding documents? This is the setup for that.
Honig’s analysis refers to a certified letter Trump’s lawyers handed authorities claiming that Mar-a-Lago had been searched and that all classified materials had been returned to the government, which of course turned out to be false as the FBI seized troves of documents.
“I was going to say we should note that Trump’s spokesman told ABC, quote, ‘These notes reflect legal opinions and thoughts of the lawyer, not the client,’” Mattingly concluded.
Watch the full clip above via CNN.
