There are three witnesses included in former President Donald Trump's second federal indictment that provide "really incriminating evidence" against the former president, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said.
Trump is facing four counts related to the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Federal prosecutors allege that the former president attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results by obstructing official certification proceedings on the day of the riot, as well as by initiating a pressure campaign against state and federal officials in the weeks following the election.
The former president has called the indictment "fake" and alleges that Special Counsel Jack Smith is attempting to interfere with his 2024 reelection bid. Trump is also facing federal charges in connection to the top-secret documents discovered at his Mar-a-Lago estate last August, as well as business fraud charges in New York City.
Meadows' Report to Trump on 2020 Election From Georgia
Kirschner highlighted three specific batches of evidence included in the January 6 indictment that he believes will "crush" Trump during trial, starting with testimony from Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff.
According to the indictment, Meadows "personally observed" the signature verification process at the Cobb County Civic Center in Georgia. The Peach State was one of seven that prosecutors said Trump targeted in the weeks following the 2020 election.
Meadows reportedly notified Trump during the certification process that Georgia election officials were "conducting themselves in an exemplary fashion," prosecutors said, and that he would identify any election fraud if it existed.
A day later, Trump tweeted that the "Georgia officials administering the signature verification process were trying to hide evidence of election fraud and were 'terrible people!'" The exchange is included as evidence of Trump knowingly conspiring with his allies to "defraud" the U.S.
"That's right, friends. The testimony of his own former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows will crush Donald Trump at trial," Kirschner noted during Wednesday's episode of his Justice Matters podcast.
Trump Exerted Pressure on Mike Pence: Indictment
Kirschner also highlighted evidence that came from former Vice President Mike Pence's extensive recount of his conversations with Trump in the weeks leading up to January 6. Prosecutors said that Trump relentlessly pressured Pence to obstruct with the Electoral College certification proceedings during his ceremonial role as president of the Senate, although Pence repeatedly refused to do so.
On the day before the Capitol attack and the election certification, Trump met alone with Pence to again pressure him to obstruct the proceedings, and "grew frustrated" when the former vice president again refused. Trump then reportedly told Pence that he "would have to publicly criticize" him for not agreeing.
Kirschner said that Trump's warning to Pence is evidence of the former president launching the violence at the Capitol on the day of January 6, along with Trump's tweets during the attack that blamed Pence for not having the "courage" to halt the election proceedings.
"Trump didn't just criticize Pence publicly. He called him a coward," Kirschner added. "He told the angry mob, which was mid-assault at the Capitol, 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what was necessary to protect our country' ... The signal was sent. 'Get him.'"
Trump as His Own Witness
Kirschner lastly pointed at evidence in the indictment of Trump attempting to use the Justice Department to pave the way for his fake-elector scheme. According to prosecutors, Trump called acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen on December 27, 2020, and "raised multiple false claims of election fraud," which Rosen rebuffed.
After Rosen told Trump on the phone that the DOJ "could not and would not change the outcome of the election," the former president reportedly responded, "Just say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen."
"First of all, corrupt intent proven conclusively beyond a reasonable doubt," Kirschner said of the exchange. "He knew there was no fraud, and he said out of his own mouth, 'it doesn't matter, I don't care. Just say there was fraud and leave the rest to me and my allies.'"
Kirschner also encouraged that Smith press charges against Trump's allies in Congress at the time "for their efforts to keep Donald Trump in office." At the moment, there are no other defendants in the DOJ's investigation.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's press team via email Wednesday night for comment.
