The latest subpoenas from Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith for members of disgraced former president Donald Trump’s legal team should have those close to Trump very worried, according to a former federal prosecutor.
Glenn Kirschner spoke with MSNBC’s Yasmin Vossoughian Sunday afternoon and was asked about the fact that it now appears members of Trump’s legal team are becoming witnesses.
“It’s highly unusual, but it’s not unprecedented,” Kirschner noted. “There are times when prosecutors will investigate the mafia, mob organizations, and they will get to a point in the investigation when it looks like the attorneys representing the mobsters, the targets of the investigation, are complicit in the crimes of the organization and prosecutors do go after mob lawyers.”
Trump attorney Evan Corcoran is now being put under the microscope by the special counsel because he may have been part of the crimes committed by the former president, and means the crime-fraud exception would apply and invalidate attorney-client privilege.
“I think everyone is worried on Team Trump,” Kirschner explained. “I don’t fully understand why Mike Pence is unwilling to stand up for the people of the United States of America and talk about, for example, the pressure campaign that Donald Trump waged against him to get him to commit federal crimes. To violate the Electoral Count Act on Jan. 6 and obstruct Congress’ official proceeding certifying Joe Biden’s win. Mike Pence seems comfortable talking about it publicly when he’s trying to profit off of his book.”
In the long run, Kirschner predicted, Pence testify before Smith’s grand jury:
“I think Mike Pence will testify at the end of the day. There are several reasons why the executive privilege fails, and I also think the speech or debate clause privilege fails because no matter how you cut it, Mike Pence is not a legislator, and he wasn’t engaged in robust debate about legislation. So I think all privileges will fail, and Mike Pence will find himself inside the grand jury.”
