OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
When it comes to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s ongoing investigations into the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, an attorney who gave then-President Donald Trump legal counsel after the contentious 2020 election aftermath has drawn a firm boundary.
John Eastman’s attorney, Harvey Silverglate, declared that his client had no intention of making any plea agreements and that he would not cooperate with Smith or other federal prosecutors.
Silverglate said his client gave “good faith legal advice” when he said that former Vice President Mike Pence could refuse to certify President Biden’s election.
“It was certainly cutting-edge. It was creative,” Silverglate said of Eastman’s theory. “But, you know, that’s what good lawyers are supposed to do. And Eastman’s advice was perfectly within the realm of good faith legal advice. I don’t have any doubt about it. I’m sure we can get experts to testify to that if necessary. If Eastman is charged, he’s going to trial. If he is convicted, he’s going to appeal. We will never, ever make a deal.”
“This whole thing has become so politicized that it’s not even funny. And it is a blot on the Department of Justice, in my view,” Silverglate said. “So, we are giving away our defenses. But we are that confident in our case that we’re willing to tell them what our arguments are in order to keep them from indicting him.”
The New York Times published a report noting that Trump and the nearly two dozen co-defendants in the case have already complexed the case that could result in courtroom battles for years.
Some defendants are seeking speedy or separate trials while others have sought to move the case to federal court.
“In the Georgia case, the question of whether to change the venue — a legal maneuver known as removal — matters because it would affect the composition of a jury. If the case stays in Fulton County, Ga., the jury will come from a bastion of Democratic politics where Mr. Trump was trounced in 2020. If the case is removed to federal court, the jury will be drawn from a 10-county region of Georgia that is more suburban and rural — and somewhat more Trump-friendly. Because it takes only one not-guilty vote to hang a jury, this modest advantage could prove to be a very big deal,” the Times reported.
“Some of the defendants seeking a speedy trial may believe that the case against them is weak. They may also hope to catch prosecutors unprepared. Another reason that some may desire a speedy trial is money. Ms. Willis had originally sought to start a trial in March, but even that seemed ambitious given the complexity of the case. Harvey Silverglate, the lawyer for Mr. Eastman, said he could imagine a scenario in which a verdict might not come for three years,” the outlet added.
“And Eastman is not a wealthy man,” Silverglate said, adding that his client “doesn’t have the contributors” that Trump has.
“We are going to seek a severance and a speedy trial. If we have a severance, the trial will take three weeks,” he predicted.
The NYT also noted how this process for many, including Trump, could take a while.
The bond agreement for Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s former personal attorney, was negotiated by Atlanta attorney Brian Tevis.
Tevis stated that “the defense side would probably want potentially a year or so to catch up.”
“You have to realize that the state had a two-year head start,” he said. “They know what they have, no one else knows what they have. No discovery has been turned over, we haven’t even had arraignment yet.”
