Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig told CNN's Michael Smerconish on Saturday that President-elect Donald Trump's four indictments could have unfolded differently, outlining a hypothetical, alternative timeline that "absolutely" would have led to at least one federal trial and verdict before the 2024 election.
In a conversation with Smerconish on Saturday morning, Honig analyzed the timeline of appointments and legal proceedings pertaining to Trump, starting with the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, followed by Merrick Garland's confirmation as U.S. attorney general, the appointment of Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith, the subsequent federal indictments, up until the November 2024 presidential election.
He notes that there's a "key gap" between Garland taking office and appointing Smith, saying it "takes almost two years—20 months—until November 2022, when Merrick Garland names Jack Smith as special counsel." Garland was sworn in as U.S. attorney general in March 2021.
In a hypothetical exercise, Honig, a senior CNN legal analyst, said, "What if Merrick Garland had appointed Jack Smith right away, let's say April of 2021?" He continued, that even when accounting for extra time, Smith "would have gotten those cases indicted in early- to mid-2022. We would have absolutely had a trial—even if you account for the immunity decision—in mid to late 2023, maybe early 2024, and to me, it would have been impossible for Donald Trump to run out the clock. We absolutely would have had trials and verdicts well in advance of the 2024 election."
In a 6-3 ruling on July 1, the U.S. Supreme Court said that presidents have broad immunity for official acts. The Court added that presidents have absolute immunity for core political acts and some immunity for other acts committed as president, but no immunity for strictly private conduct. It also ruled that official acts cannot be used as evidence if taking a case against a president for unofficial acts.
Honig later said on Saturday that "if Merrick Garland was serious about digging into this, he could have done it from day one."
Newsweek filled out an online contact form with the DOJ seeking comment from Garland's office on the matter.
Earlier this month, Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, in the presidential election, winning both the popular vote and the Electoral College. He is set to take his second term in office on January 20, 2025.
Since the conclusion of his first term in office, Trump has been faced with four indictments: a federal classified documents case in Florida, which was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon this summer on grounds that Smith was not properly appointed, a federal indictment related to alleged 2020 election interference, a state indictment in Georgia also tied to alleged 2020 election interference, and a criminal hush-money case of falsifying business records in New York.
Trump has maintained his innocence in all the cases and said they are a political witch hunt. Only the criminal hush money case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has gone to trial.
In May, Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election to keep an alleged affair the two had in 2006 a secret, was initially set to be sentenced on July 11. However, presiding Judge Juan Merchan has postponed his sentencing indefinitely following his election win.
"By the weakest of the four cases going first, and being the only one to go to trial, that really undermined the entire process here, the entire effort to bring Donald Trump to accountability," Honig said Saturday.
Last week, Honig, who previously disclosed he is a friend and former colleague of Bragg's, said the Manhattan district attorney "poisoned the well" for other Trump trials.
The federal cases are set to wind down before Trump takes office as Smith has filed motions to drop the charges and is reportedly planning on stepping down. Trump has publicly vowed to fire Smith within "two seconds" of being sworn in, and according to The Washington Post, he plans to fire Smith's entire team.
Regarding Trump's federal election subversion case, overseen by Judge Tanya Chutkan, in which he is accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempted obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights related to an alleged pressure campaign on state officials to overturn the 2020 election results, Honig said Trump "would have had a brutal jury pool" in Washington, D.C.
He said that out of the 94 federal districts, "the number one where Donald Trump is least popular, number 94 of 94, is the federal district for Washington, D.C." Honig added that since Chutkan "ruled against Donald Trump on virtually every issue" and the "indictment looks fairly strong and straightforward," the case could have been particularly challenging for Trump.
"In this hypothetical alternative timeline, for sure Jack Smith would have indicted his cases before Alvin Bragg came down with his, for sure Jack Smith would have been the first one to get to trial," he said, adding that this case had gone first, it's not known whether Bragg or Georgia's Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis would have "piled their cases on."
Willis is still prosecuting the Georgia case. Earlier this month, the Georgia Court of Appeals canceled the December 5 hearing for Trump's appeal "until further order of this court."
The Georgia case is likely to be dismissed following Smith's motion to dismiss the federal cases, in which he wrote: "The Constitution's prohibition on federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting President apply to this situation and that as a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated."
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