'It would almost be malpractice': Trump lawyer Alina Habba’s defense gutted by legal analyst
12 June 2023
According to former prosecutor Paul Butler, one of Donald Trump's many lawyers is barking up the wrong tree if she thinks provisions found within the Presidential Records Act will come into play as her client faces a 37-count indictment in federal court.
Appearing with MSNBC host Chris Jansing, Georgetown Law Professor Paul Butler dismissed out of hand a defense offered by Trump attorney Alina Habba during an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, explaining she seems to not be aware of what is contained within special counsel Jack Smith's indictment.
Habba told Fox host Shannon Bream, "What I can tell you is he has every right to have classified documents that he declassifies under the Presidential Records Act. They're making it sound like a five-alarm fire and it's not."
She continued, "Frankly, he was the only one that could take classified documents that he declassified under the Presidential Records Act -- people forget that."
"Is that something, Paul, you could expect to hear at trial?" host Jansing asked.
"I hope not because it would almost be malpractice," Butler shot back. "The Presidential Records Act is not anything that Donald Trump is charged with -- he's charged with very serious federal felonies."
"For all those scandalous charges in the indictment, the problem for Donald Trump is that Jack Smith has receipts," he elaborated. "He's got dozens of those documents pertaining to national security, he's got photos, he's got audio and video tape, he's got text messages."
"Chris, what's probably most worrisome for Donald Trump is that the special counsel also has a lot of evidence that we don't yet know about," he added. "You can be sure he's saving some of the most incriminating evidence against Donald Trump for the trial."
Watch the conversation at this link: