The son of twice-impeached former President Donald Trump has recently gotten himself implicated in the ongoing investigation surrounding the January 6 insurrection and the attempted coup by his father and their allies. According to a former US attorney, the texts by Donald Trump Jr. on overturning the 2020 elections may be the “smoking gun” that investigators are searching for.
Speaking on MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show” with host Jonathan Capeheart, former US attorney Joyce Vance argued that Trump Jr.’s text messages to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows could be a strong piece of evidence that investigators may be looking for. The CNN report revealing Trump Jr.’s suggestions on how his father and his allies could overturn the 2020 elections was described as strong evidence for an indictment.
Capeheart pressed Vance on whether Trump Jr.’s texts to Meadows could be the “smoking gun” following the text messages to Meadows by Ginni Thomas, the wife of sitting Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Vance said it might be, citing that the messages to Meadows were sent shortly before the election was ultimately called for Joe Biden.
“Donald Trump Jr. is already acting on the assumption his father is going to lose the election, and of course, the entire predication that his father has for maintaining that everything he did after the election, up to and including the march on the Capitol, was legitimate was this notion that he had not legitimately lost the election,” Vance explained.
Other legal experts have also weighed in on the CNN report that revealed the text messages by Trump Jr. to Meadows that included support for the fake electors’ scheme. Trump Jr. claimed that they had “operational control” to make sure his father had a second term, according to the report.
Democratic congressman Ted Lieu, who previously served as an attorney, said that Trump Jr.’s text messages show an illegal conspiracy. Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said that Trump Jr. might as well have admitted to being involved in his father’s attempt to overturn the 2020 elections and stay in power. Former US Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal said the revelation of the messages shows a “premeditated” attempt.