Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann on Sunday highlighted what will be a striking part of former President Donald Trump’s reported upcoming virtual interview with a probation officer following his hush money trial conviction.
The presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s online talk will reportedly take place Monday. He will then be sentenced on July 11.
One of the questions that Trump will be asked is “whether he is associating with criminals,” Weissmann, a legal analyst for MSNBC, told former Biden White House press secretary-turned-network anchor Jen Psaki.
“It is sort of remarkable,” he declared.
Trump will have to “discuss whether he still coordinates with Roger Stone, Paul Mannafort, Steve Bannon,” Weissmann pointed out. “Remember, all of those people have been found guilty by a jury and are felons themselves so that’s another area where the probation department could ask questions and it’ll be interesting to see what Donald Trump has to say about that.”
Weissmann had earlier suggested the interview will be Trump’s “to lose.”
“There’s nothing wrong with his telling the probation office, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong and I’m not admitting guilt and I’m planning on appealing,’” acknowledged Weissmann. “Every defendant has a right to do that.”
“But if he were to start saying the kinds of things that he has been saying during the trial and after the trial, attacking the jurors, the witnesses, the judge, family members, to foment a false-anti law enforcement sentiment, that’s not going to go that well to say the least,” he explained.
Judge Juan Mechan, who oversaw the trial, fined Trump $10,000 in total for violating the gag order 10 times.
Watch Weissmann’s analysis here: