T.W.I.S.™ Notes
Donald Trump is trying to keep his veep from saying peep. This Week in Subpoenas, jurors are talking and the Special Counsel is making the Trump family his business.
- Tea with Emily
Emily Kohrs' first interview since serving as the foreperson on the Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury posted via the Associated Press before breakfast on Tuesday morning. She was careful not to share any details of the panel's now-famous report on efforts to overturn the 2020 election, opting instead for personal observations about Rudy Giuliani and a "really geeky kind of funny" Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
But every new interview Kohrs granted seemed to make her spin faster. By dinner, she was gleefully flinging off teasers about high-profile indictments and even trolling Donald Trump himself.
Kohrs told interviewers the grand jury had recommended "multiple indictments" including, potentially, "the big name that everyone keeps asking me about." Kohrs said the list of recommended indictments would include some not-well-known people, and some very famous ones.
"Can you imagine doing this for eight months and not coming out with a whole list?" she said in one TV interview. "It's not a short list. It's not." Kohrs laughed out loud at the notion that the grand jury's report exonerated Trump.
It doesn't appear that Kohrs is technically violating grand jury rules or the judge's instructions in her increasingly tantalizing interviews. She hasn't (so far) revealed details of grand jury deliberations or definitely named anyone who the jurors think should be charged. The judge in charge of the special grand jury seems pretty much unbothered.
Whether Kohrs is risking making that prosecution more difficult is another matter.
Whoever is indicted will almost definitely cry political bias. Trump's lawyers already are. Trump wails "witch hunt" so often that it's already the free middle square of your Fulton County bingo card. Potential defendants—especially Trump—are very likely to try to move their trials to venues outside of Democrat-heavy Fulton County. A jury pool tainted by pre-indictment news of impending charges makes a plausible argument.
It's impossible to know whether Kohrs' 15 minutes, which she's clearly enjoying, will actually harm any future prosecution. Trump's media allies are hard at work concern-trolling over the viability of a prosecution they very much hope will fail. Journalistically, I'm happy she's giving interviews and even stretching the rules. And yes, VICE News has reached out to her too. But prosecutors' motives are different from journalists', and there's a reason DAs and judges generally urge lawyers, witnesses, and jurors to keep their mouths shut.
- Javanka talk?
Special Counsel Jack Smith has already reached into Donald Trump's inner circle. Now he's into the inner inner. Smith subpoenaed nepo-tastic former advisors Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, ordering their testimony in the federal grand jury probe of dad's coup attempt.
Ivanka was with her dad on the morning of Jan. 6 when he called Mike Pence, tried one last time to coerce him into helping steal the election, then called him "the p-word" (pg 36). Kevin McCarthy, still in the throes of insurrection panic during the riot and not yet intent on covering it up, implored Ivanka to get her dad to call off his mob (pg 83).
We'll see if either kiddo tries to claim executive privilege to avoid testifying.
- It's time to block the Mike
Meanwhile Mike Pence and Donald Trump are doing all they can to prevent the former veep from telling the truth to Smith's grand jury. Pence is trying to clam up based on his status as president of the Senate. But even if a judge agreed, it would likely only cover portions of what Pence knows about the coup attempt. So, not surprisingly, Trump's lawyers are now trying to block whatever else Pence might say on executive privilege grounds. The gag order is in place, so stay tuned.
- Jeremy spoke in court today
Proud Boys member Jeremy Bertino took the stand for the government this week as the prosecution continued its seditious conspiracy case against former leader Enrique Tarrio and four other members. Bertino told the jury that the Proud Boys' attention and recruitment spiked after Trump told the organization to "stand back and stand by" at a September, 2020 presidential debate.
Bertino, who pleaded guilty and is cooperating with DOJ, was also confronted with texts from Jan. 6 where he wrote of lawmakers, "Half-measures mean nothing. Fuck fear. They need to be hung." Asked what he meant when he texted other members "we failed," Bertino said, "The revolution had failed… The House was going to go on and certify the election."
Meanwhile, a lawyer for Proud Boys defendant Joseph Biggs said he's moving ahead with a plan to subpoena Trump himself as a witness in the trial. It was unclear if Trump's lawyers would accept the service of the subpoena, or if prosecutors will try to quash the whole thing.
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