'Could end up hurting him': Expert warns Trump's next move puts D.C. trial before election
If Donald Trump attempts to get his election subversion case tossed he could compel Special Counsel Jack Smith to lean out his indictment and bring a trial ahead of the general election.
NYU law professor Ryan Goodman said as much during an appearance on CNN.
He noted that if Trump tries to tap into Friday's Supreme Court decision, where the justices voted in favor of sparing some Jan. 6 defendants of obstruction charges — it could blow up in his face.
ALSO READ: Rep. Byron Donalds, his gigantic Jim Crow myth and a forgotten fact about Black voters
"I think that Donald Trump needs to worry," Goodman said. "If he were to make the argument Jack Smith should drop two charges – it could end up hurting him and backfiring; hurting Donald Trump."
"Because after Monday, when the supreme court rules on immunity, big question: can Jack Smith say, okay, I'm going to slim this case down. We're going to curtail charges and now we do have time to proceed to a jury trial before the election?'"
The former president was slapped with two obstruction-related charges as part of a four-count criminal indictment brought by Smith last year.
The justices ruled 6-3 that the 2002 charge of obstructing an official proceeding that had been instituted as a fail-safe to the white collar corruption involving the Enron Corp. must include solid evidence that defendants tried to tamper with or destroy documents.
The decision will only affect a small swath of people who were charged or even convicted of laying siege to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in Congress' effort to foil the certification of votes.
There are an estimated 250 cases currently pending, about 50 convicted on obstruction alone, and 27 currently serving time, according to CNN.
Goodman noted this in a tweet: "A quarter of [Jan. 6 defendants] pleaded guilty but NOT to obstruction. They pleaded to other charges. Those charges and those sentences are utterly unaffected by Supreme Court’s ruling."
It's expected that the decision will be repurposed by Trump's legal team to take aim at the Justice Department allegations of overreaching when it came to bringing cases against the rioting defendants.
Goodman noted that the Supreme Court’s opinion didn't address the fake electors scheme that specifically deals with Trump.
The Supreme Court on Friday limited the power of prosecutors to pursue obstruction charges against those who rioted at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, narrowing a law that could have tacked years onto the sentences of hundreds of defendants.
Goodman noted that Jack Smith has no need to be worried because Trump's other charges related to the fake electors scheme are still viable.