'He's going to get tired of losing': Watergate prosecutor ridicules Trump's arguments
Donald Trump is going to get "tired of losing" in the criminal case he faces for alleged election interference, a Watergate prosecutor said Saturday, citing the former president's legal arguments.
Assistant Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks during an appearance on MSNBC's American Voices with Alicia Menendez was asked about the protective order request by Special Counsel Jack Smith, in which the appointed prosecutor cited threats by Trump on social media. Trump had requested a three-day delay to respond to Smith's request, but the judge rejected that bid, instead giving him until Monday.
Wine-Banks said on Saturday that she can't think of any defense that the lawyers could have for seeking a delay "on something that is posing a clear and present danger to witnesses" and others.
"He, Donald Trump, has threatened and talked very ill of Jack Smith, and of Jack Smith's wife," she said, adding that Trump's legal team has been putting forth baseless arguments while seeking extra time to form responses.
"He has gone on and on, the lawyers are making ridiculous arguments, you mentioned the three-year argument. We should have three years for discovery. Well, excuse me, Jack Smith was only appointed eight months ago. That's all they've had. So he doesn't need any more than that," she said, noting that the "argument that they should be exempt from the Speedy Trial Act and wait till after the election is so absurd."
She added:
"They are arguing, and I don't know how they do this with a straight face, they are saying, the Speedy Trial Act is only for the benefit of the defendant, so he can waive it. That is not true. The Speedy Trial Act is for the people who bring the case, for the prosecution, which represents we the people of the United States. We who are the victims of his alleged conspiracy. We who were deprived of the right, or would have been if he succeeded, deprived of the right to have our votes counted. So, the Speedy Trial Act protects us when witness memories fade, when witnesses could die. You have to have a speedy trial for us, as well as for him. And so, when you go to what he's going to argue next week in front of the judge, I honestly cannot imagine that the judge isn't going to say, you lose. He's going to get tired of losing, I hope, and stop this nonsense."