Legal Expert Says No One Is a ‘More Dangerous’ Defendant Than Donald Trump

A legal expert warns that former President Donald Trump will be the most "dangerous" defendant in the weeks to come. The legal expert made these remarks following the release of excerpts from the depositions of former Trump staffers Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, and Scott Hall by ABC News and The Washington Post.

During his appearance on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, former FBI general counsel and senior prosecutor for Special Counsel Robert Mueller Andrew Weissmann was questioned on leaks, reported Raw Story. Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County in Georgia who is bringing the case against Trump in the Georgia election interference court, claims that the press leaks are threatening witnesses, so she's asking the judge presiding over the case to grant an "emergency" protective order over discovery materials to prevent further leaks. 

Weissmann, who shared a panel with former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal and former DeKalb County District Attorney Gwendolen Keyes Fleming, outlined his thinking, arguing that although the order is a difficult measure to show, there is sufficient evidence to persuade the judge to implement it. "Because you do not have a more dangerous defendant than Donald Trump in all of his criminal cases and his civil cases," he slammed Trump and his legal defense team.

"It's a standard that the government needs to meet here is they need to show that there is a substantial risk of harm or economic injury," he said. "And so I think they're going to be questioning the quantum of proof that the state puts up. But I think that this is an area where Fani Willis's argument tomorrow and Jack Smith's argument in the D.C. Court of Appeals, to sustain the gag order, really coincide."

According to him, the material from the taped evidence that was able to be made public too soon "is harmful to Donald Trump." "...That is why the D.A. [Willis], I think, is very appropriate to seek this order," he said. "Because you do not have a more dangerous defendant than Donald Trump in all of his criminal cases and his civil cases," he commented, adding, "This has been repeatedly found by the judges overseeing these matters."

At a hearing on Wednesday, the defense attorney for Jonathan Miller, a co-defendant of former President Donald Trump in the Fulton County district attorney's 2020 election interference case, acknowledged that he had only shared witness proffer videos of important players with a media outlet, citing his client's interest in doing so. By Thursday morning, the judge promised to issue a protective order that would prevent the release of specific discovery material, reports NBC News. 

The DA's office argued in court documents that a protective order was required "in order to protect witnesses and to safeguard sensitive and confidential information". It stated that the leaks were "clearly intended to intimidate witnesses in this case, subjecting them to harassment and threats prior to trial."