'Absurd delay': MSNBC analyst explains how Jack Smith used Trump’s lawyers own words against him in court

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell on Thursday broke down the latest developments in special counsel Jack Smith’s case against Donald Trump over the former president's alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Thursday, Trump and aide Walt Nauta pleaded not guilty to new charges in a superseding indictment related to the Department of Justice’s case against the former president. Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira appeared before a federal magistrate in Fort Pierce, Florida, but did not enter a plea.

“Donald Trump’s defense team tried to get away with the most absurd delay ever proposed to the magistrate judge who heard the proposal today,” O’Donnell began during his “The Last Word” program Thursday night.

O’Donnell explained that prosecutors will show De Oliveira told a cooperating witness, named in the indictment as “Trump Employee 4,” that “the boss” wanted a server deleted.

“De Olivera asked [Trump Employee 4] to commit that crime of obstruction of justice because the security camera footage was already under a subpoena by the Justice Department when Donald Trump wanted the footage deleted,” O’Donnell explained. “That was a crime.”

“Carlos de Oliveira is in as deep trouble as you can possible be in this indictment,” O’Donnell said.

De Oliveira, O’Donnell noted, “couldn’t enter a plea today because he’s not been able to find a Florida attorney to represent him.”

The MSNBC analyst went on to debunk that claim, noting there are “77,223 lawyers” in Florida with the highest concentration in southern Florida, where the case is being tried.

“They told a judge that they couldn’t possibly find one until Aug. 25 at the earliest,” O’Donnell said.

The judge, O’Donnell continued, “no doubt feeling insulted by the blatant and lazy attempt to create unnecessary delay, told the defendant to be back in court on Tuesday.”

Turning to Jack Smith’s latest legal filing in that case, O’Donnell detailed how the special counsel “used Donald Trump’s newest criminal defense lawyer, John Lauro’s, television comments against him.”

“Defense counsel claimed, both in a media interview and in the initial hearing, that the Government has been investigating the matter for three and a half years, while the defense is starting with a blank slate,” Smith’s team wrote in the filing. “Not only is this claim impossible, as January 6, 2021, was two and a half years ago, but it is disingenuous.”

Watch the video below, via MSNBC or at this link.