Former FBI General Counsel Says Trump Admitted to a Crime During Tuesday Night Speech: 'That Is An Admission to That Charge'
MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann said former President Donald Trump admitted to one of the federal charges he is facing just hours after being arraigned.
On Tuesday, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 counts stemming from his retention of government documents after he left office. The Department of Justice says some of those documents were classified and that he repeatedly obstructed the government's efforts to retrieve them.
Hours later, Trump delivered a speech from his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he claimed he had "every right under the Presidential Records Act" to take the documents. He also said he was not aware of everything that was in the boxes of materials he took because he did not have enough time to sort through them.
Appearing on The Last Word, Weissmann, a former assistant U.S. attorney and former FBI general counsel who later joined Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team investigating Trump, said the former president admitted to a crime.
"That was written in the teleprompter," host Lawrence O'Donnell said about Trump's speech. "His lawyers probably knew that he was going to be saying this tonight. He didn't just, you know, wing it. That was a considered choice."
"So, one thing it's important for everyone to know is those statements that you just played are admissible as admissions, regardless of whether Donald Trump takes the stand or not," Weissmann said. "Those are admissions. So, that is-part of what he said is just a straight-out confession. It's not a defense. It's a confession."
He went on to explain that if the case goes to trial, the judge will not give the jury instructions on the Presidential Records Act because it is a civil law, whereas Trump is facing criminal charges.
"The, 'I did not know what was in the boxes' is disproved by his own voice on tape where he talks about two of the documents," Weissmann added, referring to the DOJ's claim it has audio of Trump bragging he has classified material that he cannot declassify because he is no longer president. "
"Let's jump back to your point one," O'Donnell said. "What specifically was the confession?"
"So, he said, 'I could take these,'" Weissmann replied. "When you are charged with the illegal retention, the illegal possession of the documents, it is not a good idea to say, 'Hey, you want to know why I took these? Because I could. That is not a defense to that charge. That is an admission to the charge."