Jack Smith's Latest Trial Tactic Could Implode Trump Trial

Jack Smith's new trial tactic of possibly putting Mar-a-Lago employees on the stand against former President Donald Trump could implode as witnesses sometimes "blow up" when testifying, according to legal analyst Norm Eisen.

Smith is a Department of Justice special counsel in charge of prosecuting Trump for both the classified documents case and the former president's Washington, D.C., indictment for allegedly interfering in the 2020 election. Trump has been accused of improperly removing dozens of classified documents from the White House before leaving office in 2021.

Trump, who is campaigning for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and is the current frontrunner, has maintained his innocence in the case.

CNN reported in March at least two dozen people, including Mar-a-Lago resort staff, had been subpoenaed to testify to a federal grand jury that is investigating Trump's handling of the classified documents. On Thursday, CNN reported that a plumber, a maid, a chauffeur and a woodworker are among the Mar-a-Lago staffers who may be called to testify against Trump.

Meanwhile, Eisen posted on X, formerly Twitter on Thursday, "Calling Trump's chauffeur, maid, & other MAL employees as witnesses is a smart move by Jack Smith. But they're not used to being on the stand—& the fmr president's lawyers won't pull any punches."

Eisen also posted a video from his conversation with CNN in the post, where he said, "The con to calling these witnesses is that they are what we sometimes refer to as civilians....These are not people who are accustomed to being on the stand."

"They are not accustomed to the limelight," Eisen continued. "They work for Donald Trump so there will be a certain amount of awkwardness...witnesses sometimes do blow up. They have to be carefully prepared by the prosecution."

Eisen then noted Trump's lawyers' behavior so far in the trial, saying, "Trump's lawyers, we saw this most recently how they went after Michael Cohen, how they went after E. Jean Carroll in that case, Trump's lawyers will be no holds barred."

Reacting to this analysis, former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade told Newsweek on Friday, "The wisdom of calling any witness depends on preparation. If Jack Smith has already put these witnesses in the grand jury and locked in their testimony under oath, then he can confidently question them on the witness stand at trial."

McQuade concluded, "Putting them on the stand blind would violate the first rule of witness testimony—never ask a witness a question to which you do not know the answer."

Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach County, where Mar-a-Lago is located, also told Newsweek on Friday, "These witnesses can be quite powerful because they saw things as insiders and have no axe to grind, no political bias and no financial reason to make up stuff about the boss. In fact, quite the opposite."

Trump responded to CNN's report on Friday on his social media platform Truth Social saying, "Fake News CNN just did a story, leaked by Deranged Prosecutor Jack Smith and his massive team of Radical Left Lunatics, that various people saw papers and boxes at Mar-a-Lago. Of course they did! They may have been the boxes etc. that were openly and plainly brought from the White House, as is my right under the Presidential Records Act."

Trump continued: "I even supplied, upon request, Security Tapes to these Election Interfering Thugs. Is this really 'Breaking News?' No, it's 'Breaking Fake News.' But what about all of the papers, boxes, and documents found at NUMEROUS Crooked Joe Biden places, like his garage floor by his cherished Corvette, or CHINATOWN where it was just learned that boxes moved freely in and out. He doesn't come under the Presidential Records Act because he wasn't President at the time. Deranged Jack Smith has spent over $100,000,000 investigating me on this phony Russia, Russia, Russia, type Scam. How much $'s have they spent investigating Crooked Joe on his much bigger boxes deal?"

Meanwhile, Trump has had a turbulent week amid his ongoing $250 million civil fraud trial in New York City.

On Monday, the former president took the stand to defend himself, where he denied allegations that he inflated the value of his properties and assets in order to obtain favorable bank loans and tax breaks.

Ivanka Trump was also called to testify in the civil trial on Wednesday, with New York Attorney General Letitia James' office alleging she played a part in filing the financial statements while working as executive vice president at The Trump Organization.

James also alleges that Ivanka Trump used the statements to obtain three loans for the company from Deutsche Bank in 2012 and 2013. Ivanka was dismissed from the case in June due to the statute of limitations for most of the allegations against her.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump's campaign via email for comment. Newsweek has also reached out to the DOJ via the department's online portal.