Ex-Trump Organization lawyer William Brennan told CNN anchor Phil Mattingly that the new bombshell indictment of former President Donald Trump was a “slick move” on the part of Special Counsel Jack Smith.
News broke Tuesday afternoon that Smith has secured a new superseding indictment against Trump in the Washington, DC circuit on the election cries case that was gutted by the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.
On Tuesday’s edition of CNN’s The Lead, Brennan joined CNN legal analyst Elie Honig to provide the first analysis of the news:
PHIL MATTINGLY: Bill, to start with you. What do you make of the decision to move forward with these slimmed down charges in this superseding indictment?
WILLIAM BRENNAN: …Phil, it’s not uncommon, for, prosecutor to do this. It’s actually a smart move. With the trouble that, he’s having with the, now, former. But, as of an hour ago, current indictment– he now supersedes. He streamlines, and he tries to, take that indictment further. I mean, it really is, a smart move on Jack Smith’s part. Whether it’ll survive is, is unclear right now, but, it is a slick move.
PHIL MATTINGLY: To that point. How do you think Trump World would react to this now that it’s out?
WILLIAM BRENNAN: I think that, the former president’s lawyers are, well, very competent. Will file motions saying we basically got the same old indictment, signed up purportedly as something new. That this case has been, ruled on already. That this shouldn’t change anything.
And it really probably will come down to whether or not what’s, remaining in the superseding indictment is outside the perimeters. You know, the heartland of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.
I mean, that’s really where the rubber hits the road here. If there are, charges that, bring in presidential immunity, it’s going to be a problem for Mr. Smith. If there are charges that don’t, go into that territory, then he may survive.
Watch above via CNN’s The Lead.
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