That Alleged Judgeship Threat Seems to Have Come Back to Haunt a Jack Smith Staffer

Matt Vespa | August 10, 2023 9:30 PM

The arraignment for Trump aide Walt Nauta has been finally completed. Nauta, indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith, pleaded not guilty to the obstruction of justice and false statements charges. Part of the classified document controversy earned Donald Trump his second indictment. Yet, Mike Davis, a former law clerk for Justice Neil Gorsuch, took to Twitter to voice his disgust regarding Nauta’s part in the legal drama. For starters, he feels that one of Mr. Smith’s staffers should face misconduct charges for threatening Nauta’s attorney.

Judge Cannon should dismiss these charges and sanction Jay Bratt, Jack Smith’s counselor, for serious misconduct.

Bratt (allegedly) threatened Trump co-defendant Walt Nauta’s attorney.

Essentially, his application for a judgeship was on the line, if Nauta didn’t turn on Trump. https://t.co/J77npcLggP
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) August 10, 2023

ICYMI:

Jay Bratt, counselor to Garland Special Counsel Jack Smith, stands accused of serious misconduct.

This calls into question the indictment of Trump--for the non-crime of having his presidential records, which is allowed by the Presidential Records Act.…
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) August 7, 2023

That allegation was lobbed in June when Stanley Woodward met with federal prosecutors about Mr. Nauta’s predicament. They wanted the Trump valet to cooperate in their investigation with indictments looming. Smith’s counselor, Jay Bratt, was the one who allegedly brought up Woodward’s recent application for a judgeship and how that process might be greased if he played ball with the Feds.

As Rebecca wrote, this isn’t the first allegation of prosecutorial misconduct. Jack Smith might not have reviewed all the documents when deciding whether to indict Trump over mishandling classified materials. And now, with this third indictment against the former president over January 6, we’re putting Trump’s thoughts on trial. This overreach isn’t unusual for Mr. Smith, who is known for getting ahead of his skis on criminal matters.