In an unsettling turn of events in the case against former U.S. President Donald Trump, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team conceded that it had falsely stated that all evidence was provided to Trump’s legal team, as required by law, and admitted to the ethical lapse in meeting this obligation.
The July 31 court filing revealed the mistake made during a hearing on July 18, wherein Smith’s team assured that all surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago was handed over to Trump’s defense. However, they found on July 27 that this was not the case.
They discovered that the said footage was not yet prepared and made available on the designated platform for the defense team to examine. This error came to light during the preparation for a superseding indictment and discovery production for the defendant, Carlos De Oliveira.
The law, known as the Brady rule, mandates that the prosecutors must disclose all evidence to the defense, including any information potentially beneficial to the accused that may lessen their punishment.
On July 27, a new superseding indictment accused Trump and his staff of conspiring to erase specific security footage to prevent the grand jury from viewing the full evidence. The indictment also implicated Mar-a-Lago employee Carlos De Oliveira, Trump’s assistant Walt Nauta, and the former President himself.
The charges against Trump involve unlawful retention of national defense information and alleged instructions to a Mar-a-Lago worker to erase security tapes to hide them from a grand jury.
Reacting to the new charges, Trump used his social media platform to accuse Smith of peddling false claims and interfering with the upcoming 2024 elections.
In the indictment, it is claimed that De Oliveira informed another Mar-a-Lago employee about the instruction to “delete” a server on June 27, 2022. This incident happened around two months before the FBI’s raid on Trump’s Palm Beach resort, leading to the discovery of allegedly classified documents.
Trump maintains that he utilized his presidential powers to declassify all relevant documents in his case and denies any concealment of materials from the government.
Trump’s campaign labeled these new allegations as a desperate attempt to torment the former President. They dismissed the ongoing investigation as a baseless witch hunt, aimed at discrediting Trump and bolstering Joe Biden’s standing in the upcoming elections.
A RealClear Politics polling data average shows a neck-and-neck race between Biden and Trump, with the former leading by a slim 0.9 percentage points.
This latest indictment raises the total charges in the classified materials case to 40. Trump, a potential 2024 Republican presidential nominee, is embroiled in several legal battles.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is scrutinizing Trump’s involvement in the incidents surrounding his challenges to the 2020 election results, leading up to the Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump indicated that his attorneys met with U.S. Justice Department officials on July 27, suggesting that charges may soon be filed.
Smith alleges that Trump improperly retained classified national security documents upon his departure from office in 2021 and deceived officials trying to retrieve them. Trump pled not guilty to these charges, including alleged Espionage Act violations, on June 13.
In New York, a grand jury has indicted Trump for allegedly altering business records related to a payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential race. He is also facing a civil lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleging fraud.
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Source: Becker News Rephrased By: InfoArmed