Ex-U.S. attorney: Evidence in Jan. 6 indictment “will be much stronger” than Trump defenders think

A former Trump lawyer acknowledged "that there is a degree of legal jeopardy" coming for the ex-president

By Tatyana Tandanpolie

Staff Writer

Published July 19, 2023 1:42PM (EDT)

Donald Trump (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Donald Trump (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

The former associate White House counsel for former President Donald Trump on Tuesday told CNN that the target letter special counsel Jack Smith sent Trump in the Jan. 6 criminal investigation signals the "legal jeopardy" the former president can expect to see.

"Look, it shows that there is a degree of legal jeopardy coming in the direction of the former president, and that's always serious for anybody who receives a target letter," Jim Schultz said, according to Mediate. "So, I do think that, you know, it's something that needs to be taken seriously, and perhaps an indictment is on its way. We saw in the last case, that that preceded an indictment — I think we're likely to see the same thing here, and he is probably not going to go in to testify."

Other legal experts also pondered the severity of legal disaster that potentially awaits Trump. Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance warned Trump's Republican defenders that "Jack Smith evidence, or what we see of it in his indictment, will be much stronger than people are anticipating," adding that GOP primary rivals "who continue to shill for Trump will be forced to do an about face, perhaps not immediately, but it's coming." George Washington University Law Prof. Johnathan Turley added that "Trump lost the 2020 presidential vote in the District of Columbia, receiving a mere 5.4% of the vote. That means finding a Trump supporter in the district's jury pool is only slightly more likely than finding a snow leopard."