Walls Closing In AGAIN? CNN Legal Analyst Predicts Indictment of Trump Is ‘Imminent’

We’ve already noted that Tiffany Cross, MSNBC’s bombastic weekend host, has a deepest desire to see Donald Trump get arrested. Cops-style. Cross may have seen CNN, the liberal rival network, this morning and had high hopes. According to a local legal analyst, the indictment against Donald Trump was “imminent”.

Here we go again. Already four years ago conservatives made fun of the way cable networks predicted that Trump would be “the wall is closing in”. On Wednesday’s A New DayJoey Jackson is a legal analyst. 

Jackson shared the opinion that Mar-a-Lago was about more than searching for classified documents evidence. He claimed that Trump was being investigated by the FBI as well.. Jackson then made the bombshell prediction.

In my view, John, I think the issue here is that indictment — and I’ll say it — I think it’s imminent as it relates to the president. Look at the timing and everything else. I think he’s in trouble. I think his surroundings: Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, perhaps Mr. Giuliani. It’s going down, as they say.

Jackson appeared to suggest that Trump will be indicted on the basis of his criminal conduct in the January 6th riots.

John Berman, the co-host, was perhaps taken aback at Jackson’s prediction that there would be no evidence. He said: “To be clear: so that people get it. our reporting as of now is This has to do with the issue of archives and documents. It is not directly related to January 6^th, is our reporting.“

Berman then began to flout his wild theories, saying:

“You might have a national security reason, apart from the criminal motive. These documents should be obtained in safe places as quickly as possible.You may be charged with a violation of the terms, but that does not mean you will never face charges.”

Berman seemed to be insinuating the possibility that the FBI wanted to seize certain documents of a sensitive national-security nature before, e.g., Trump could peddle them to a hostile foreign power!

Yikes! Berman did not provide any support for his bold theories, just Jackson. 

On New Day, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson predicting that the indictment of Donald Trump was “imminent,” was sponsored in part by Verizon, Downy, and Sandals.

You can find the transcription here.

CNN
Neue Day
8/10/22
6:05 am EDT

JOHN BERMAN: Let’s go back to the search at Mar-a-Lago. Joining me now CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson, and former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, and professor at Cardozo law school, Jessica Roth. 

Joey, reports this morning that the FBI took 12 boxes of stuff out of Mar-a-Lago when they searched it Monday. Is that a lot of stuff?

JOEY JACKSON: Look, anything, right, would seem like a lot when it furthers a criminal investigation. We don’t know, right, how large the boxes are, how many documents are within those boxes. 

However, I believe that you can be deceived the notion that it simply dealt with declassified documents, I think would be misleading. I think there’s a lot more here that we have to connect the dots to. 

Is there any information in there with respect to January 6th that would further the notion of what he was doing, who he was communicating with—any documents centered around that? And so, the fact is, is that we are in uncharted waters here, right? Who goes to a president’s residence to take documents? 

John, according to my perception, I Think the issue here is that indictment — and I’ll say it — I think it’s imminent as it relates to the president. Look at the timing and everything else. I think he’s in trouble. I think his surroundings: Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, perhaps Mr. Giuliani. It’s going down, as they say.

BERMAN: Just to be clear, so people understand, our reporting as of now is this has to do with the issue of archives and documents. It is not directly related to January 6^th, is our reporting. It doesn’t mean if they find something connected to January 6th they can’t take it if it’s in plain sight.

. . .

There could be a national security reason here, sort of separate and aside from a criminal reason. You want to get these documents in a safe place as fast as you can, period! And that might not necessarily mean you ultimately press charges.

JESSICA ROTH: Absolutely, and it’s important to make a distinction between the legal standard necessary to obtain a search warrant, which is probable cause. The legal standard to convict someone at trial is proof beyond reasonable doubt. It’s the same standard to seek an indictment, but prosecutors, especially in these circumstances, would not pursue an indictment unless they were confident that they had proof beyond a reasonable doubt to convict.