Special counsel Jack Smith appears to be "marching toward charges" in the investigation into former President Donald Trump's actions surrounding the 2020 presidential election, said former prosecutor and MSNBC legal analyst Tali Farhadian Weinstein on Saturday.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been investigating Trump over his possible involvement in the alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he has repeatedly claimed without substantial evidence, was stolen from him due to widespread voter fraud.
The investigation began with a focus on the January 6, 2021, riot—which saw a group of Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol building allegedly motivated by Trump's unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud that he said cost him the election—but has expanded to include fake elector schemes allegedly organized by Trump allies. The former president has maintained his innocence in the case, accusing prosecutors of investigating him for political purposes.
During an appearance on MSNBC's The Saturday Show, Farhadian Weinstein, a former federal and state prosecutor, weighed in on when charges may be brought in that case.
"I think that, if all of this was happening out of time, it seems to me that he is very much marching toward charges," she said, adding that the case is "much more complicated" than the DOJ's Mar-a-Lago classified documents case because it is more discrete and charges related to taking national security information are brought "more frequently" than election interference charges.
She also noted that the DOJ may be concerned with the timing of charges being brought against the former president, who is again running for president in the 2024 election, as they have faced accusations from conservatives of trying to sway the race against the former president.
"I think there is some concern that we might be well into the next presidential cycle before all of this would be ready," Farhadian Weinstein said. "That puts sort of a cloud over the whole thing."
Meanwhile, former U.S. Attorney Gene Rossi told Newsweek in an interview on Saturday afternoon that if the DOJ has evidence to persuade a jury that Trump or others committed crimes surrounding January 6, they should file those charges before 2024 rolls around.
"They should not present charges next year. That would poison the political system. It would ruin the reputation of the Justice Department," he said.
Rossi said that questions of political bias are "always an issue" when investigating Trump, but that he must be treated "without fear or favor" from the DOJ. He also said the nature of the charges, which would likely be sedition and insurrection, are different than in the classified documents case and that the DOJ may have a stronger case in that probe instead.
"It's simple. It doesn't involve a ton of witnesses. It's not complicated. You have security cameras. You've got recordings. You have lawyers that are allegedly going to be witnesses against President Trump. That's a simple, straightforward, meat and potatoes case," he said.
Newsweek also reached out to the DOJ for comment via its press inquiry form.
This week, former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Republican, confirmed that he was interviewed as part of the federal investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. He previously testified to the House of Representatives' committee investigating January 6 that Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani called him to discuss a plan to allegedly appoint fake electoral officials to falsely declare his victory in several swing states.
The DOJ indicted Trump last month in a separate case surrounding his alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in which the former president pleaded not guilty. Meanwhile, the former president is also facing an investigation into his alleged attempts to thwart the 2020 election results in Georgia by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
