MSNBC’s Weissmann: ‘Inconceivable’ Trump Won’t Be Criminally Charged — It’s a Question of When, Not If

MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann said Thursday on “Katy Tur Reports” that he believed it is “inconceivable” that former President Donald Trump will not be charged in special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents probe.

Tur said, “Having Donald Trump on tape saying, yes, I’ve got a classified document, and yes, I have limited ability to show it to you, before the government went in to get those documents, before they were even asking for them, how significant is that if that’s true?”

Weissmann said, “If it is true, it is the proverbial smoking gun. I mean, this case is about knowingly and intentionally retaining classified information and it may also be about obstruction of justice. So if you have the defendant on tape confessing that, if you are a prosecutor, there’s nothing better. And as we know, Donald Trump likes to denigrate anybody and everyone who testifies against him, but here will be his own words. So that is really a strong as you can get.”

He added, “The Department of Justice has a particular interest in making sure that classified documents stay in the government, and are not intentionally taken outside of the government. And many many people have been prosecuted for far less. That’s the reason I find it really inconceivable that he would not be charged because frankly, I think the rule of law requires it. If he is going to be treated the same as anyone else who did the same thing, then all you have to do is look at what the Department of Justice has done in cases that frankly are far less egregious, and they have been charged. So I really think this is a question of when, not a question of if.”

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