Trump will 'turn on everybody' and use every resource at his disposal to 'muddy the waters' if he's indicted for Jan. 6, Mary Trump says
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- Mary Trump said former President Trump will "turn on everybody" if he's indicted in connection to the Capitol riot.
- He will "muddy the waters, deflect, project, cast blame on everybody," his niece said.
- "There will be very few people left standing," Mary Trump added.
Mary Trump, Donald Trump's niece, said the former president will turn against everyone if indicted for his role in the Capitol riot.
Speaking on the Thom Hartmann YouTube show earlier this week, Mary suggested no one would be safe from his wrath, from close confidantes to "the lowliest of White House aides."
"I think he's going to turn on everybody," she told Hartmann. "I think he's, as we've seen, his circle is getting smaller and smaller by the controversy. So I think there will be very few people left standing."
The House select committee tasked with investigating events leading up to and in the aftermath of the Capitol riot has been gathering evidence, including some that legal experts say could mean that Trump has broken at least five federal laws, such as conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and defrauding the United States.
Rep. Liz Cheney has said the Jan. 6 committee could make multiple criminal referrals to the Justice Department, including one against Trump. The committee wouldn't be able to legally prosecute Trump, but its members can inform the Justice Department of possible criminal conduct, as Insider's John Dorman previously reported.
Testimonies from the Jan. 6 hearings have revealed that Trump was aware that his supporters showed up armed to the "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the riot.
"I was in the vicinity of a conversation where I overheard the president say something to the effect of, 'I don't effing care that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me. Take the effing mags away,'" former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified last month, referring to the metal detectors used by Secret Service. "'Let my people in, they can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the effing mags away.'"
She also testified that Trump also defended his supporters who chanted "hang Mike Pence," saying the former vice president "deserves it."
Hutchinson in her testimony also said she heard Trump's former White House counsel Pat Cipollone warn the former president that he'd be charged with "every crime imaginable" if he went to the Capitol on the day of the riot.
Following her damning testimony, Cipollone was called to testify before the committee. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a member of the panel, said he "did not contradict" testimony provided by Hutchinson or other witnesses. Amid the hearings, several prominent figures have argued that Trump should be indicted.
Former Justice Department officials who served in Republican administrations said last week that the Jan. 6 committee has uncovered sufficient evidence for the unprecedented prosecution of a former president.
"The evidence is now overwhelming that Donald Trump was the driving force behind a massive criminal conspiracy to interfere with the official January 6 congressional proceeding and to defraud the United States of a fair election outcome," the former officials said as they issued a call last week for the DOJ to prosecute Trump.
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said he believes Trump will be indicted for his role in last year's insurrection.
"Guns have been smoking all around Donald Trump for years," Kirschner said in a video posted to YouTube earlier this month. "And for whatever reason, there have been no criminal charges yet brought against Donald Trump."
"That will change. It has to change if we care about the survival of our democracy. He will be indicted," Kirschner predicted.
Former DC police officer Michael Fanone who was beaten during the riot said he believes there's "ample probable cause" to arrest and indict Trump. Meanwhile, a majority of Americans, or 58%, said last month in a poll that they believe the former president bears a "good" or "great" amount of responsibility for the insurrection and should be criminally charged.
Mary in the interview with Hartmann said if he's indicted, Trump will take action and attempt to clear his name or cast blame in another direction.
"We should expect a full court press, by him and everybody in his orbit, to change the subject, muddy the waters, deflect, project, cast blame on everybody from the lowliest of White House aides on up," she said. "He will not take it lying down and he will engage everybody who continues to be a hanger-on to do his bidding."
"I mean, Donald didn't do this by himself," Mary continued. "He was enabled at every turn from people in his inner circle, everybody in the executive branch, and almost the entirety of the Republican Party."
If formal charges are brought against Trump, there are many strategies his legal team might employ in an attempt to clear him. His lawyers might choose to plead insanity or argue that he genuinely believed the 2020 presidential election was rigged, legal experts told Insider.
Contributer : Business Insider https://ift.tt/ozB3gfk
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Monday, July 18, 2022
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