# DOJ/Jack Smith Investigation into Trump and Election Interference, January 6th Insurrection (Re-Indicted August 27, 2024) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 23, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455 "2022-11-23T20:14:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/302 "2023-08-01T23:19:41Z")
Trump’s latest Truth post is him asking why it took so long for them to file changes. Obviously the answer is election interference he asserts. I know Trump likes to bloviate (and I love that his presidency seems to have brought that word into more common usage), but doesn’t he realize this makes him look weak? He’s scared and it’s pretty obvious. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/303 "2023-08-01T23:24:41Z")
He is scared. I’m glad to see it. I think he just sputters out every thought that crosses his pea brain in the dire hope that something will save him. I’m grateful for this day. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/304 "2023-08-01T23:29:26Z")
Yeah, it occurred to me that “What took you so long?” is not generally how an innocent man responds to the news he’s been indicted. I also find the apparent absence of Mark Meadows as a co-conspirator interesting, especially since he’s sort of disappeared from view. I wonder if he’s been singing like a canary in order to save himself. It did not escape my notice that he was also one of a handful of people that witnessed Trump waving around classified information at his Bedminster NJ property. Note: I only mentioned the classified docs case in order to back up my assertion that Meadows has flipped. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/305 "2023-08-01T23:31:21Z")
Sorry if I missed someone else mentioning… I notice the indictment is **45** pages long. Coincidence? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/306 "2023-08-01T23:32:55Z")
Good catch, **Shoeless**. I’m sure that it’s a coincidence, but it does make one wonder. Hmmm … ETA: I’m thinking a few fine Irish ales (Kilkenny, most likely) and a fine Dominican handmade cigar. Just gotta hit the liquor store first. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/307 "2023-08-01T23:34:50Z")
I am up to the task. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/308 "2023-08-01T23:36:42Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > It did not escape my notice that [Mark Meadows] was also one of a handful of people that witnessed Trump waving around classified information at his Bedminster NJ property. Was Meadows at the meeting or was it ‘just’ his biographers? ETA: Yeah. Steering a bit toward the Mar-A-Lago case, but I promise I’ll get right back into my lane 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/309 "2023-08-01T23:41:08Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I also find the apparent absence of Mark Meadows as a co-conspirator interesting, especially since he’s sort of disappeared from view. I wonder if he’s been singing like a canary in order to save himself. I try to rarely toot my own horn, but I was pretty sure this was the case a year ago. From the ‘F Merrick Garland’ thread from July 2022: > [@F Merrick Garland. (He won't be going after anyone)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/80): > > Again, DOJ has had Mark Meadows’ and other top administration officials’ phone information since April. Long before the Committee’s hearings got underway. They haven’t been knitting booties over there. > [@F Merrick Garland. (He won't be going after anyone)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/125): > > Between two far-ranging investigations, it is not at all surprising that each entity – the Committee and the DOJ – have different evidence and witnesses. You and others have hung your hats on the notion that the DOJ was “blindsided” by the Cassidy Hutchinson testimony. It’s one witness. DOJ has Mark Meadows. Presumably, they don’t need Cassidy Hutchinson if they have Mark Meadows. > [@F Merrick Garland. (He won't be going after anyone)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190/125): > > Meadows and his counsel have gone dead silent. This usually means negotiations with prosecutors, looking for a deal in exchange for testimony against a higher-up. Who could be higher up than Meadows in this scheme? Meadows is going to be one of Smith’s star witnesses, I am quite sure. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/310 "2023-08-01T23:45:36Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Having to try to be respectful to a female African American judge is going to be very difficult for Defendant Trump. No kidding. What is the over/under on the number of days before he calls her a racist? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/311 "2023-08-01T23:51:20Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > I don’t think we can eliminate (RNC Chair) Ronna Romney McDaniel either. She’s listed in the indictment as the “RNC Chairwoman”. She’s not a co-conspirator, at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/312 "2023-08-02T00:00:19Z")
I want the conviction headline to be a complete top-of-the-fold boldfaced shout like the famous “WAR!” headline. ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/313 "2023-08-02T00:03:52Z")
Instead of Sidney Powell being the batshit crazy lawyer, it could also conceivably be Lin Wood… ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/314 "2023-08-02T00:16:16Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > it occurred to me that “What took you so long?” is not generally how an innocent man responds to the news he’s been indicted. You’ll never guess what the son of Sam killer told police when he was first arrested. > **['Son of Sam’ caught; asks 'What took so long?’](https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2014-08-10/ty-article/.premium/son-of-sam-caught/0000017f-e593-d97e-a37f-f7f7e9890000)** > > After terrorizing New York for a year in the late 1970s with shooting attacks that targeted young women with long, dark hair and that he later said were commanded by a dog, Berkowitz was arrested. By the way, I think a mod needs to update the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/315 "2023-08-02T00:19:44Z")
Done. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/316 "2023-08-02T00:23:59Z")
Potential Victim 1 weighs in “Today’s indictment serves as an important reminder: Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States,” Pence said. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/317 "2023-08-02T00:27:00Z")
There’s more to this. [https://www.axios.com/2023/08/01/mike-pence-reacts-trump-jan-6-indictment](https://www.axios.com/2023/08/01/mike-pence-reacts-trump-jan-6-indictment) > - Pence addressed this point in his statement Tuesday, saying: “On January 6th, former President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. I chose the Constitution, and I always will.” I did not expect to see a statement this strong from Mr. Cardboard. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/318 "2023-08-02T00:28:20Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > There’s more to this. It’s clear from the Indictment that Pence cooperated. They quote his personal notes a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/319 "2023-08-02T00:33:27Z")
Having read the indictment, I’d have to say two things: 1. Trump did well in being deeply consistent in asserting a particular reality. I’d assume that his defense would rest strongly on blame shifting his beliefs to crazies around himself (e.g. Flynn, Lindell, etc.), Newsmax, Epoch Times, etc. Smith doesn’t offer any evidence, in the indictment, that Trump ever broke and admitted the truth. 2. Likewise, the grand majority of the work was done by the co-conspirators. “The defendant” does appear in a few conversations and does, in one meeting, tell everyone to let him take lead on convincing Pence. He does seem to have been aware of and involved in the scheme but, as in point 1, you’ve got to contend with the issue that he comes across as being sincere in his belief that some magical force has manipulated all of the votes. That said, if I really think that Herbert murdered my daughter, that doesn’t give me the right to murder him back. Thinking that the election was stolen from you doesn’t give you the right to come up with a plan to steal it back. He should be convicted, by the letter of the law. But, I’d like to see better evidence that the Defendant was aware of his own criminal intent, before I’d be comfortable with taking a former President to court. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/320 "2023-08-02T00:37:15Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > > [@rocking\_chair](#): > > > > 4 lawyers we know, Eastman, Powell, chesebro, and Giuliani > > > > 1 justice official is Clark > > > > 1 political operative Brannon? Stone? > > My guess is Cleta Mitchell. Less sure now, but the identity of Conspirator 6 still seems to be unconfirmed. Here are the clues I picked up from the indictment. These are outlined starting at item 58 in the indictment. CC6 provided CC1 (most certainly Guliani) with a list of lawyers in every state who could assist in the fraudulent elector scheme. CC6 also participated in a - apparently unreported until now- phone call on Dec 12th with the PA electors. Rudy CC1 and CC5 (probably Chesebro) were also in the phone call. CC6 also participated in a conference call on Dec 13, participants are not detailed but appeared to be internal to campaign. I’m backing off on Cleta because she’s an attorney. I’m now guessing that it’s a Trump campaign official whose name is relatively unknown, maybe a guy named Mike Roman who was mentioned once in an article about the plot. Or Christina Bobb, but she’s an attorney. Another very slim possibility is Ginni Thomas. It’s probably not, but if it is Smith has some elephant sized balls. It’s been reported that she did directly contact AZ electors to promote the scheme and she would be a good non-lawyer source for names of insurrectionist lawyers, which is the reason I threw that out. But I can’t see her participating in the phone calls. It would be delicious, though. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/321 "2023-08-02T00:37:20Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > You’ll never guess what the son of Sam killer told police when he was first arrested. It’s apparently not an extremely rare comeback when a crook is arrested. [FBI spy Robert Hansen](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hanssen) uttered it. [The east coast rapist](https://www.newstimes.com/local/article/East-Coast-rapist-suspect-What-took-you-so-long-1047123.php) said it. So did [a plain old alleged thief](https://buffalonews.com/news/what-took-you-so-long-alleged-mall-thief-asks-arresting-parole-officer/article_bd6fa4f7-387e-5385-80ed-b085f2143761.html). I’m sure we could find a bunch more. If any of you are ever arrested, don’t say it. It does make you sound guilty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455.md?page=17)