Legal experts are picking up “signals” that the Trump team is bracing for subpoenas or indictments in the New York City and Georgia investigations into the former president.
Washington, D.C.-based public interest lawyer John Banzhaf, who prompted the election interference investigation in Georgia, said the case is heating up. He noted that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is struggling for documents from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is said to be “lawyering up.”
Meanwhile, Willis has hired a special prosecutor who had a role in the Whitewater case against former President Bill Clinton.
Banzhaf also noted that in New York, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has added a forensic accountant in his investigation of old Trump financial deals and taxes.
In both cases, the political geography doesn’t favor former President Donald Trump. In New York, said Banzhaf, Vance is not running for another term and “just might want to end his already-illustrious career with a bang.”
And in Georgia, Banzhaf said that Willis “is a Democrat in a heavily Democratic county. Therefore, most members of a grand jury, and of any criminal trial juries in this county, are likely to be very unfriendly to Trump, especially now that he has lost a lot of his clout and his ability to reach out easily on social media with most of his followers.”
Over the weekend, Banzhaf also pointed to other legal troubles potentially for Trump, with the General Services Agency agreeing to turn over records requested by House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio on the Trump International Hotel lease of the Old Post Office Building. And Trump’s former White House lawyer has agreed to appear before a congressional investigating committee.
“So there’s ever-growing evidence that the noose is tightening around Trump, and that a criminal indictment against him is increasingly likely,” said Banzhaf.
