How the 6 alleged co-conspirators in Jack Smith indictment could 'flip' on Trump
Thursday, August 3, 2023 marked the third time former President Donald Trump was arraigned on criminal charges.
Special counsel Jack Smith spent months conducting a thorough investigation of Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, and a federal indictment was handed down on August 1. Two days later, Trump appeared in a Washington, D.C. courtroom and pled "not guilty."
The indictment on four charges lists six alleged co-conspirators, but none of them are mentioned by name — and none of them have been indicted so far. In a USA Today report published on August 4, journalists Josh Meyer, Joey Garrison, Savannah Kuchar and Dinah Voyles Pulver examine the possibility of them "flipping" on Trump in order to avoid an indictment.
READ MORE: Inside Trump's six-person team of alleged co-conspirators and their effort to overturn Election 2020
"Any of the six could deepen Trump's already dire legal jeopardy should they decide to cooperate with special counsel Jack Smith to avoid facing criminal charges of their own," they explain. "Former prosecutors and other legal analysts told USA Today they were struck by the fact that Smith did not announce charges against any of the six even though the indictment describes them as crucial cogs in a broad Trump-led conspiracy to try to overturn Joe Biden's victory."
The reporters add, "In a process known as 'flipping,' prosecutors often use the implied threat of potential criminal charges to pressure suspected co-conspirators into cooperating against their main target — in this case, Trump."
According to Meyer, Garrison, Kuchar and Pulver, USA Today has "determined" that the six alleged co-conspirators include former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, pro-Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and John Eastman, and former U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyer Jeffrey Clark. Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, according to USA Today sources, may be another one.
"Former Trump White House special counsel Ty Cobb was one of several legal analysts who said one of the most likely reasons Smith didn't seek indictment of the six is because he's trying to pressure them into providing incriminating evidence against Trump — and to possibly testify against him at trial," the USA Today reporters note. "Cobb said the indictment, from what it says and doesn't say, makes clear that the grand jury hearing evidence in the case is still working and looking at additional charges. And the fact that the six are listed as conspirators, and not unindicted co-conspirators, he said, suggests Smith intends to seek grand jury indictments of them 'unless they work out some arrangement with the government.'"
READ MORE: 'No proof': Fact-check reporter thoroughly debunks Trump defenders’ Jan. 6 indictment claims
Read USA Today's full report at this link.
