Jack Smith Moves In For The Kill On Trump For J6. He’s Looking At Trump’s “Frame Of Mind”

I wrote yesterday that both Andrew Weissman and I felt very strongly that Special Counsel Jack Smith would move sometime before July 31st to bring criminal charges against Traitor Tot and other miscreants for crimes committed in the leadup to the January 6th insurrection. I’m even more sure now.

According to new reporting in The New York Times, in recent days Smith’s attorneys have had a parade of former close Trump advisors before the grand jury to testify to Trump’s state of mind in the days following the election being called for Joe Biden. The witnesses included Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

This is huge. Because proving the state of mind of a criminal defendant goes miles towards proving criminal intent. From day one, even before votes were cast, Trump thundered that the only way he could lose the election was if it was rigged. But the legal question is, Did he honestly believe it?

An there is conflicting testimony. In her appearance in front of the J6 committee, Cassidy Hutchinson recalled a conversation she heard when she was in the Oval Office when the subject of the election came up, and Trump moaned, I can’t believe I lost to that fucking guy! There were several other witnesses that appeared before the committee that also testified that Trump made spontaneous declarations that showed he was fully aware that he had lost the election. On the other hand, The New York Times reported that Jared Kushner testified that he had the opinion that Trump honestly believed that the election had been stolen.

Look, there’s nothing new in court about conflicting testimony, Hell, any time a defense lawyer argues diminished mental capacity as a part of an insanity defense, what you’re going to end up with is a pissing contest between government psychiatrists and paid defense psychiatrists. And it all comes down to whom the jury believes.

Which is why Smith’s move makes perfect sense. Smith is calling everybody who might have any knowledge of Trump’s state of mind whatsoever. He already knows that he’s going to get conflicting testimony, but he wants to get all of that testimony on record, so that he can try to determine which witnesses come across as more believable to the jury.

But here’s what makes this so critical. Whatever else, His Lowness is the apple at the top of the tree. Every federal investigation starts at the bottom, questions and if possible flips lower level fish, and work your way up to the shark at the top of the pool.

But if Jack Smith is hauling Trump cronies before the grand jury to testify as to Trump’s state of mind, it tells me one thing. It tells me that Smith has already uncovered and confirmed criminal behavior on the part of Trump, and now he wants to nail down the last lid of the coffin by showing that Trump had the state of mind that he had actually lost the election, and that everything else that followed was a desperate attempt to hang onto power by whatever subversive tactics worked.

Which basically tells me that Jack Smith is done. There is no one higher on the tree than Trump. If Smith is gaining testimony as to Trump’s state of mind, then he already has conclusive proof of criminal activity and intent, and just wants to prove it. And once he has that testimony in the bag before the grand jury, then there’s nothing left to do but evaluate it, and come to a charging decision. Which I still believe will happen before July 31st. Don’t touch that dial.