Tipsheet

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

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.

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.