Donald Trump’s lawyers demanding they meet with Attorney General Merrick Garland to discuss Special Counsel Jack Smith show they are getting “desperate” with regards to how they are handling the federal investigations into the former president, according to the Republican’s former biographer.
Tim O’Brien, author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald, appeared on MSNBC’s 11th Hour on Tuesday to discuss the letter which Trump’s lawyers John Rowley and James Trusty sent to Garland claiming the former president is being “unfairly treated” by Smith, who is overseeing the dual criminal probes into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified materials and his actions around January 6 and attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
“No President of the United States has ever, in the history of our country, been baselessly investigated in such an outrageous and unlawful fashion,” the letter states.
“We request a meeting at your earliest convenience to discuss the ongoing injustice that is being perpetrated by your Special Counsel and his prosecutors.”
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Speaking on 11th Hour, O’Brien suggested the letter shows that Trump and his team are struggling in their attempts to politicize the investigation and “control the narrative” of the proceedings.
A number of legal experts have suggested that the letter shows that Trump is concerned that he will be soon indicted as part of Smith’s classified documents investigation, with the Wall Street Journal recently reporting the prosecutor was “wrapping up” the case.
“I think they’re desperate,” O’Brien said. “This is not an astute or strategic action by lawyers who feel like they are in control of a narrative or that they are in control of where this particular investigation is heading. They are doing what Trump has always done. They are trying to politicize an investigation and they are not responsive around the law or the rule of law.
“Trump, for all of the mythology around Trump having nine lives in terms of being held accountable in the courtroom, he’s never in his entire life face the kind of heavyweight investigations that surround him on a number of fronts by very purposeful prosecutors who are assembling the fact pattern and trying to determine whether he committed financial fraud, whether he tried to overturn the 2020 election illegally, whether he abused the power of his office in terms of mishandling classified documents, and on and on.”
The biographer also noted how the other criminal investigations into Trump are “colliding,” and that Smith may not want “the meat of the prosecution” to take place during the 2024 GOP presidential primary season.
On Tuesday, New York Judge Juan Merchan set a trial date on March 25, 2024, for Trump’s trial for allegedly falsifying business records in connection to hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels, meaning proceedings will begin just weeks after the first-in-the-nation Republican presidential primary caucus in Iowa next February.
There are also reports that Trump could be indicted in Georgia as part of an investigation into whether he committed a crime while trying to overturn the 2020 election in the state in early August.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the probe, said she plans to have most of her staff working remotely between July 31 and August 18 and requested that judges not schedule trials or in-person hearings during these weeks in what is considered a strong indication that charges in Trump’s investigation could be announced then.
Trump has frequently denied all allegations and wrongdoings in connection to the investigations into him, frequently describing them all as a “witch hunt.”
Discussing the letter Trump’s legal team sent to Garland, Tristan Snell, a lawyer and former assistant attorney general for New York state, tweeted: “You don’t send your lawyers to meet with a prosecutor who’s not planning to indict you. If Trump’s lawyers are requesting a meeting, it’s because the DOJ has let Trump know he’s a target—and he’s about to get indicted.”
Newsweek has contacted Trump’s office for comment via email.