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Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team has admitted to incorrectly stating they turned over evidence as required by law in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.
Prosecutors discovered that video used as evidence “had not been processed and uploaded to the platform established for the defense to view” when they were getting ready to indict Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira last week for allegedly conspiring with Trump to delete surveillance footage from the estate, Smith’s team wrote in a filing.
“The Government’s representation at the July 18 hearing that all surveillance footage the Government had obtained pre-indictment had been produced was therefore incorrect,” the prosecutors added.
“All CCTV footage obtained by the government has now been given to the defendants, according to Smith’s team. The so-called Brady rule requires prosecutors to disclose all evidence and information favorable to the defendant,” Just The News reported.
Following his third arrest and court arraignment in four months, Trump entered a not-guilty plea on Thursday to allegations that he attempted to rig the 2020 election.
Before boarding his Boeing 757, Trump told reporters the legal process is unfair.
“This is a very sad day for America,” he said before leaving Reagan National Airport for New Jersey. Trump called the case the “persecution of a political opponent. This was never supposed to happen in America.”
Prior to his court appearance, Trump issued a scathing response to Smith’s filing of additional charges against him in his classified documents case, while also indicting a third person within Trump’s orbit in the process.
Last week, Smith filed a superseding indictment against Trump, which included new charges related to the willful retention of national defense information and obstruction. The prosecutors alleged that Trump and his aides were involved in instructing a staff member at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida to delete security camera footage deliberately. Smith alleged the action was taken with the intention of preventing the presentation of evidence to a federal grand jury.
Trump, however, denied the allegations categorically and said he ensured his legal team handed over any and all requested security footage unaltered.
“Mar-a-Lago security tapes were not deleted,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. “They were voluntarily handed over to the thugs, headed up by deranged Jack Smith. We did not even go to court to stop them from getting these tapes. I never told anybody to delete them. Prosecutorial fiction & misconduct! Election interference!”
In a subsequent post, he compared the current allegations against him to the “Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.”
“They knowingly accuse you of a fake crime, a crime that they actually makeup, you fight these false charges hard, and they try and get you on ‘obstruction.’ We are dealing with sick and evil people!” he added.
In a separate case, Trump was indicted again by Smith stemming from his investigation into the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
According to Fox News, “This is the second federal indictment the former president faces out of Smith’s investigation. Trump, who leads the 2024 GOP presidential primary field, has already pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to his alleged improper retention of classified records from his presidency.”
Trump faces several charges in that probe, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements.
Additionally, he was indicted on three additional counts as part of a superseding indictment issued in connection with the same investigation last week.
