An audio tape released by CNN of former President Donald Trump discussing classified documents in a 2021 meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey, created a furor this week. Donald Trump's niece Mary Trump recently delved into the implications of the development.
In the latest episode of the “Mary Trump Show” podcast that aired on Tuesday, the former president's niece and her guest Jen Taub weighed in on rumors that Donald Trump intentionally released the audio tape of himself committing treason.
Trump’s Proactive Move? Taub, a law professor, said that she saw Donald Trump say on his Truth Social platform that the audio tape would exonerate him. She also explained the motive behind the tape’s circulation, noting that one of the questions that a judge typically asks a jury is whether it knows about a case. Because of the widespread publicity the tape has already attracted, the former president’s lawyers could argue that the jury in Trump’s case has already formed an opinion.
“You listen to that and you form an opinion. So you’re only going to get people on the jury who either lie and say they haven’t formed an opinion, or people who are just so out of it, and that’s just not a great jury pool,” Taub said.
"You want people … who say you I haven’t heard that much about this or even if I have I’m not going to be biased well," she added.
Taub reasoned that the circulation of the tape could be a ploy. “If the jury already heard this, you have already made up its mind,” she said.
Slippery Slope: Mary Trump suggested that what matters most in the case is that Donald Trump stole documents that belong to the U.S. government.
“They are highly classified. Some of them were human intelligence. We have no idea how many human beings were actually put in danger. People may have died as a result of this. This is treason,” the psychologist said.
The fact that Attorney General Merrick Garland is aware of this and the Department of Justice didn't do anything until it heard the tape “should shake all of us to the core,” she said.
Taub said that, while special counsel Jack Smith‘s move to indict Donald Trump is good news, the bad news is that Aileen Cannon, the Florida district judge assigned to oversee Donald Trump's classified documents case, is doing some "weird things." Cannon objected to the department's desire to keep secret a list of witnesses that Donald Trump isn't allowed to speak with about the case.
Donald Trump’s trial date is set for Dec. 15. The reason it is not sooner is that “there’s all this secret information,” Taub said, adding that if he “were a normal person, he’d be in prison pending the trial.”
Mary Trump added that her uncle always commits crimes “that are the nature of which protect him.”
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