According to a report by Raw Story on Tuesday, December 26, 2023, former President Donald Trump and Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel may have unwittingly provided crucial evidence for the D.C. criminal case against them, according to MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos.
Cevallos, who has defended federal criminal cases, said that the recently revealed recording of Trump and McDaniel pressuring Michigan election officials to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election votes could be used by special counsel Jack Smith to show a pattern of conduct and intent.
Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in February 2023, is investigating whether Trump and his allies violated federal laws by attempting to overturn the election results in several states, including Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
The D.C. criminal case is separate from the civil lawsuits filed by the Department of Justice and several voting rights groups, which accuse Trump and his associates of violating the Voting Rights Act, the Ku Klux Klan Act, and the Civil Rights Act.
In an interview with “Morning Joe” fill-in host Jonathan Lemire on Tuesday, Cevallos said that the Michigan call could be admitted as “prior bad act evidence” under Rule 404-B of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which allows prosecutors to introduce evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts to prove motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident.
Cevallos, who has defended federal criminal cases, said that the recently revealed recording of Trump and McDaniel pressuring Michigan election officials to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election votes could be used by special counsel Jack Smith to show a pattern of conduct and intent.
Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in February 2023, is investigating whether Trump and his allies violated federal laws by attempting to overturn the election results in several states, including Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
The D.C. criminal case is separate from the civil lawsuits filed by the Department of Justice and several voting rights groups, which accuse Trump and his associates of violating the Voting Rights Act, the Ku Klux Klan Act, and the Civil Rights Act.
In an interview with “Morning Joe” fill-in host Jonathan Lemire on Tuesday, Cevallos said that the Michigan call could be admitted as “prior bad act evidence” under Rule 404-B of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which allows prosecutors to introduce evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts to prove motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident.
Cevallos said that Smith could use the Michigan call, along with other evidence from other states, to show that Trump and McDaniel were not acting in good faith, but rather had a scheme to subvert the will of the voters and undermine the democratic process.
“This is what he was doing elsewhere, this was not a mistake. This is his modus operandi. This all should come in, and it can be devastating evidence,” Cevallos said.
“I can tell you personally that bad act evidence that somebody did something else bad somewhere else is devastating and juries — they eat it up.”
Cevallos also said that Trump and McDaniel could face more legal trouble in Michigan, where Attorney General Dana Nessel has launched a criminal investigation into their conduct.
Nessel has said that she is looking into possible violations of state election laws, which prohibit anyone from influencing, intimidating, or coercing election officials.
Nessel has also said that she is considering whether to charge Trump and McDaniel with racketeering, which is a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Trump and McDaniel have denied any wrongdoing and have accused the Democrats of engaging in a witch hunt.
They have also claimed that the election was rigged and that they were fighting for the integrity of the vote.
However, their claims have been rejected by dozens of courts, election officials, and former Attorney General William Barr, who said that there was no evidence of widespread fraud or irregularities that could have changed the outcome of the election.
Trump and McDaniel are expected to appear in court in D.C. in January 2024, where they will face Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama and has been critical of Trump’s policies and actions in the past.
