New York Attorney General Letitia James' team on Wednesday revealed a document in court during Donald Trump's $250 million civil fraud trial that some legal experts say indicates the former president was aware he lost the 2020 election and planned to return to life as a private citizen. The document, according to The Messenger's Adam Klasfeld, shows Trump "restored himself" as trustee of the Trump Organization on Jan. 15 2021, just days before he left office.
"This document could be hugely important to Jack Smith and Fani Willis: it would show that Trump knew, at least as of 1/15/21, that he had not won the election and was returning to his private life & business," former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served in special counsel Robert Mueller's office, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Weissmann elaborated on the document's value during an MSNBC appearance, explaining that, to him, it's evidence that Smith can use because it aligns with what a number of Trump aides have said about times when the former president acknowledged his electoral defeat. "It's very important to Jack Smith because one of the allegations with support is that the former president actually knew he lost. This would be a good document to support that theory," Weissmann concluded.
The document "[s]trongly undermines any claim that Trump really believed he had [won] (which doesn’t matter anyway, as many, inc me have explained)," Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney, tweeted. "This is not a guy who’s planning to be president in a week. Not to mention, business first. This will be an important document in several settings."
