Donald Trump isn't just trying to delay his federal criminal cases so that he can dismiss them should he return to the Oval Office — the former president also fears what the trials could do to his campaign, former Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann speculated. In a Monday appearance on MSNBC, the former prosecutor argued that Trump is really hesitant to go to trial in the cases because he's afraid he'll lose support among Republican voters.
"I think one of the reasons that Donald Trump is so desperately trying to put all of these trials off is because you cannot be sure that two-thirds is so solid," Weissmann told political analyst Michael Steele, possibly referencing the 66 percent of Republicans who said in 2021 that they wanted to see Trump run for president in 2024. "Right now, Donald Trump doesn't want to have his day in court, doesn't want to have to deal with facts in court." That concern motivates Trump's conduct around the cases, which has involved claiming they are false and attacking the judges and prosecutors, Weissmann suggested.
"He wants to deal with spin and say this is a witch hunt, and this is all bogus," Weissmann said. "But if there is a trial, it remains to be seen whether it will be like the January 6th hearings, which really broke through in terms of changing people's minds — not everyone, of course, and it won't be everyone — but, to [Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla.]'s point, enough people who think, 'You know what, I'm actually being confronted with facts." The federal election subversion case could change people's perspectives especially because most of its witnesses have close ties to Trump and his administration, Weissman said. "I think there really could be a needle that moves because of that trial," he added.
